Columbia  ^Hnitot  r^ftp 
mt^eCttpoflJmgork 

LIBRARY 


READINGS   IN  MODERN 
EUROPEAN  HISTORY 


A  collection  of  extracts  front  the  sources  chosen  with  the 

purpose  of  illustrating  some  of  the  chief  phases 

of  the  developmeftt  of  Europe  diirifig 

the  last  two  hundred  years 


BY 

JAMES    HARVEY  ROBINSON 

PROFESSOR    OF    HISTORY    IN    COLUMBIA    UNIVERSITY 
AND 

CHARLES   A.  BEARD 

ADJUNCT    PROFESSOR    OF    POLITICS    IN    COLUMBIA    UNIVERSITY 


VOLUME  I 

THE  EIGHTEENTh  CENTURY:^  THE  FKENCH 
REVOLUTION  AND  IHE  NAPOLEONIC  PERIOD 


GINN  AND  COMPANY 

BOSTON  •  NEW  YORK  •  CHICA(;0  •  LONDON 
ATLANTA  •  DALLAS  •  COLUMBUS  •  SAN  FRANCISCO 


^7        ,    !^  37 

^^^^       COPYRIGHT,  : 


COPYRIGHT,  1908,  BY 
JAMES  HARVEY  ROBINSON  AND  CHARLES  A.  BEARD 


ALL  RIGHTS  RESERVED 

PRINTED  IN  THE   UNITED  STATES   OF  AMERICA 

829.3 


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GINN  AND  COMPANY  .  PRO- 
PRIETORS •  BOSTON  .  U.S.A. 


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PREFACE 

However  carefully  and  judiciously  a  historical  manual 
may  be  prepared,  it  is  impossible  in  its  brief,  compact 
statements  of  the  fundamental  facts  to  give  a  lively 
sense  of  the  reality  of  the  events,  conditions,  and  motives 
with  which  it  deals.  The  student  is  only  too  likely  to 
learn  and  repeat  the  words  of  the  book  as  mere  formulas 
which  fail  to  stimulate  real  thought  and  interest.  In 
order  to  meet  this  difficulty  and  give  the  text-book  its 
proper  background  and  atmosphere  the  student  must  be 
brought  here  and  there  within  reach  of  the  living  springs 
of  our  knowledge  and  see  the  very  words  of  those  who, 
writing  when  the  past  was  present,  can  carry  us  back  to 
themselves  and  make  their  times  our  own. 

These  two  volumes  have,  accordingly,  been  prepared 
to  accompany  chapter  by  chapter  and  section  by  section 
our  Developmejit  of  Modern  Europe.  The  task  of  selec- 
tion involved  more  complications  and  difficulties  than 
one  who  has  not  attempted  it  would  suspect.  We  can- 
not claim  in  every  case  to  have  discovered  the  most 
pertinent  and  illuminating  extract  to  meet  a  particular 
need  ;  but  we  trust  that  all  that  we  have  included  will 
prove  to  have  some  interest,  and  that  a  great  deal  is  not 
only  of  first-rate  importance  but  is  also  vivid  and  im- 
pressive. We  have  borrowed  to  some  extent  from  the 
second  volume  of  Robinson's  Readings  in  European 
History^  since  we  could  not  afford  to  omit  a  number  of 


iv  Readings  iii  Modern  European  History 

the  documents  which  it  gives.  Indeed  we  felt  that  we 
could  hardly  hope  to  improve  appreciably  the  chapters 
relating  to  the  French  Revolution  and  Napoleon,  and 
have  embodied  them  in  the  present  volume  with  but 
slight  changes. 

The  bibliographies  in  the  appendix  are  merely  intro- 
ductory and  make  no  claim  to  do  more  than  start  the 
student  on  the  path  to  a  really  thorough  study  of  the 
field.  If,  however,  he  familiarizes  himself  with  even 
the  more  important  of  the  books  mentioned,  he  will 
have  no  trouble  in  steadily  widening,  by  his  own  efforts, 
his  knowledge  of  the  authorities  and  sources  relating 

to  modern  history. 

^  J.  H.  R. 

Columbia  University  C.  A.  B. 


CONTENTS  AND  LIST  OF  CITATIONS 

VOLUME  I 
CHAPTER  I  — FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XIV 


Section  i.    France  before  Louis  XIV 

1.  Richelieu's  account  of  the  condition  of  France  in  1624    ...      i 

Testament  politique  (Amsterdam,  1689),  chap,  i 

2.  Sir  William  Temple's  account  of  France  in  167 1 3 

A  Survey  of  the  Constitution  and  Interests  of  the  Empire,  Sweden, 
Denmark,  Spain,  Holland,  France,  and  Flanders,  with  their 
relation  to  England  in  the  year  ibyi ;  Works  of  Sir  William 
Temple  (London,  1757),  II,  222  sqq. 

Section  2.    Louis  XIV  (^1643-1^13) 

3.  Extracts  from  Bossuet's  work  on  kingship 5 

BossuET,  Politique  tiree  des  propres  paroles  de  V Ecriture  Sainte, 
Liv.  iii,  art.  ii,  prop,  i,  ii,  iii  (passim),  and  iv ;  Liv.  iv,  art.  i,  prop, 
i ;  Liv.  V,  art.  iv,  prop,  i ;  CEuvres  (ed.  Lachat,  1864),  XXIII,  533 
sqq.,  558  sq.,  642  sqq. 

4.  Saint-Simon's  portrait  of  Louis  XIV *      8 

Par  allele  des  trois  premiers  rois  Bourbons  [written  in  1 746] ;  Ecrits 
inedits  de  Saint-Simon,  publics  par  Faugere,  I,  85  sqq. 

5.  How  Louis  and  his  court  were  entertained  at  Chantilly  .     .    .     11 

Lettres  de  Madame  de  Sevigne  (April  26,  1671)  (ed.  de  Sacy,  1861 
sqq),  I,  414  sqq. 

Section  j.    Reforms  of  Colbert  (^1661- 168 f) 

6.  Colbert's  account  of  the  financial  disorders  in  France      ...    12 

Colbert,  Memoires  sur  les  affaires  de  finances  de  France  pour 
servir  h  Phisioire,  in  Clement,  Lettres,  Instructions,  ei  Me- 
moires de  Colbert,  II,  pt.  i,  17  sqq. 

7.  Commercial  policy  of  Colbert 13 

Clement  (as  above,  No.  6),  II,  pt.  ii,  426  sqq. 

V 


vi  Readings  in  Jlfodcrn  European  History 

CHAPTER  II  — EUROPE  AND  LOUIS  XIV 


PAGH 


Section  4.    Louis  XIV' s  Attempt  to  annex  the  Spanish 
Netherlands  {1667-1668) 

8.  Preface  to  the  "  Treatise  on  the  Rights  of  the  most  Christian 

Queen" 15 

.  Negociatioiis  relatives  h  la  succession  d^ Espagne  sous  Louis  XIV., 
ed.  by  Mignet  in  the  Collection  de  Doctimejtts  inedits  (Paris,  1835), 
II,  62  sqq. 

9.  Sir  William  Temple  on  the  condition  of  Spain 17 

Works  (as  above,  No.  2),  II,  215  sq. 

Sectio7i^.  Louis  XIV' s  War  against  the  Dutch  {1672-1678) 

10.  Sir  William  Temple  on  the  opening  of  Louis's  attack  on  the 

Dutch 19 

Temple,  Memoirs  of  what  passed  in  Christendom  from  1672  to 
ibjq,  Works  (as  above.  No.  2),  II,  255  sqq. 

Sectiofi  6.  Louis  XIV' s  Flan  for  encroaching  by  "  Reunions  " 
upon  the  Holy  Roman  Empire 

11.  Temple  describes  the  conflict  of  interests  in  the  Holy  Roman 

Empire 22 

Works  (as  above,  No.  2),  II,  207  sqq. 

12.  List  of  "  reunions  "  made  by  Louis  XIV's  courts 25 

A  General  Collection  of  Treaties  (London,  1733),  I,  347  sqq. 

13.  The  French  king  demands  the  surrender  of  Strassburg,  1681     27 

Recueil  des  lettrcs  pour  sen'ir  d^eclaircissement  h  Vhistoire  mili- 
taire  du  regne  de  Louis  XIV  (Paris,  1761),  pp.  460  sqq. 

Section  7.    The  English  Revolution  0/1688  and  the  War 
of  the  League  of  Augsburg  {^idSS-idgy) 

14.  William  of  Orange  states  his  reasons  for  invading  England    28 

A  Compleate  History  of  Europe.,  ibjb-i-joo  (London,  1 701),  pp.  236  sqq. 

15.  Saint-Simon's   account   of  the   revocation   of    the   Edict   of 

Nantes 31 

Memoires  (ed.  by  le  marquis  de  Saint-Simon,  1829),  XIII,  115 
(under  the  year  1715)  ;  Eng.  trans,  by  Bayle  St.  John,  III,  3  sq. 

16.  The  burning  of  Speyer  by  the  French,  1689 33 

Stats-Anzeigen  (ed.  by  A.  L.  Schlozer,  Gottingen,  1789),  Heft  51, 
XIII,  352  sqq. 

17.  The  motives  of  the  English  in  the  War  of  the  League  of 

Augsburg 2^ 

A  Compleate  History  of  Etirope  (as  above,  No.  14),  pp.  283  sqq. 


Contents  and  List  of  Citations  vii 

CHAPTER  III  — RECONSTRUCTION  OF  EUROPE 
AT  UTRECHT 

PAGE 

Section  8.    The  Question  of  the  Spanish  Succession 

i8.  An  Englishman's  view  of  the  danger  of  France's  control  of 

Spain 39 

George  Stepney,  An  Essay  upon  the  present  intet-est  of  England 
(3d  ed.,  London,  1701),  pp.  10  sqq. 

Section  g.    Will  of  Chai'les  11^  and  the  War  of  the  Spanish 
Successiofi 

19.  Will  of  Charles  II  of  Spain 42 

DUMONT,  Corps  universel  diplomatique  du  Droit  des  gens,  VIII, 
pt.  ii,  485  sqq.  Trans,  in  A  Compleate  History  of  Europe  (as 
above,  No.  14),  pp.  623  sqq. 

20.  Louis  XIV's  letter  accepting  the  Spanish  heritage     ....    45 

Trans,  in  A  Compleate  History  of  Europe  (as  above.  No.  14),  pp. 
647  sqq. 

21.  Preamble  to  the  Grand  Alliance  of  1701 47 

A  General  Collection  of  Treaties  (London,  1733),  I,  4^5  ^11- 

22.  Letter  of  the  duke  of  Marlborough  on  the  battle  of  Blenheim    48 

The  Compleate  History  of  Spain  (London,  1707),  pp.  280  sqq. 

Section  10.   Peace  of  Utrecht  {1713) 

23.  Queen  Anne's  account  of  the  terms  of  the  Treaty  of  Utrecht    51 

A  Compleate  History  of  Eta-ope  for  the  year  1712  (London,  17 13), 
pp.  293  sqq. 

24.  An  Englishman's  impressions  of  Italy  about  1750      •    •    •    •    53 

John  Campbell,  The  Present  State  of  Europe  (3d  ed.,  London, 
1752),  PP- 376^?^. 

CHAPTER  IV  — RUSSIA   AND  PRUSSIA  BECOME 
EUROPEAN  POWERS 

Section  ii.   Peter  the  Great  plans  to  make  Russia  a  Euro- 
pean Power 

25.  Bishop  Burnet's  impressions  of  Peter  the  Great 57 

Burnet,  History  of  My  Own  Time  (ed.  of  1734),  II,  221  sq. 
■  26.  An  Austrian's  account  of  Peter's  way  of  treating  rebels     .    .    59 
Diary  of  an  Austrian  Secretary  of  Legation  at  the  Court  of  Czar 
Peter  the   Great,  trans,  from  the  original  Latin  by  Count  Mac- 
Donnell  (2  vols.,  London,  1862),  II,  85  sqq.,  106  sq.,  iii. 

27.  General  Gordon's  impressions  of  Peter  the  Great       ....    61 
Alexander  Gordon,  The  History  of  Peter  the  Great  (1755),  II, 
266  sqq. 


viii  Readings  in  Modern  European  History 

PAGE 

28.  How  Peter  the  Great  forced  his  people  to  wear  Western  dress    61 

Memoires  du  rlgne  de  Pierre  le  Grand,  par  le  B.  Iwan  Nestesuranoi 
[Jean  Rousset  de  Missyj  (^Amsterdam,  1728),  II,  254  sqq. 

Section  12.    Rise  of  Prussia 

29.  Cromwell  presents  his  respects  to  the  Great  Elector      ...    63 

Schilling,  Qucllenbuch  ziir  Geschichte  der  Neuzeit  (2d  ed.,  Berlin, 
1890),  p.  181. 

30.  The  Pope  protests  against  the  assumption  of  the  kingly  title 

by  the  elector  of  Brandenburg 64 

Ibid.  pp.  208  sq. 

31.  Instructions  of  Frederick  William  I  for  the  education  of  his 

son 65 

Ibid.  pp.  230  sqq. 

32.  Youthful  letter  of  Frederick  the  Great  and  his  father's  reply    66 

Ibid.  pp.  241  sq, 

CHAPTER  V  — THE  WARS  OF  FREDERICK 
THE  GREAT 

Section  ij.    Frederick  the  Great  and  Maria  Theresa 

33.  Secret  instructions  of  Frederick  to  his  envoy  to  France,  1740    68 

Politische  Korrespondenz  Friederichsdes  Grossen  (1879  sqq\  1, 3  sqq. 

34.  Secret  instructions  for  Frederick's  envoy  to  Hanover    ...    69 

Ibid.  I,  8  sq. 

35.  A  modern  historian's  picture  of  Maria  Theresa 71 

Alfred  Ritter  von  Arneth,  Maria  Theresa''s  ersie  Regie- 
rtingsjahre  (Vienna,  1863),  I,  86  sq. 

36.  Frederick's  manifesto  upon  seizing  Silesia  in  1740     ....    72 

The  History  of  Maurice  Count  Saxe  (London,  1753),  I>  222  sqq. 

37.  A  Spanish  colonial  official's  account  of  the  English  trade  in 

the  West  Indies 74 

Condensed  by  Professor  William  R.  Shepherd  from  Alsedo  y 
Herrera,  Pirateras  y  Agresiones  dc  las  Ingleses  y  de  otros 
Pueblos  de  Eurofa  en  la  America  espaiiola,  desde  el  Sigh  XVI 
al  XVIII  (Madrid,  1883),  pp.  202-210. 

Section  14.    The  Seven  Years'*  War  {^1756-1763) 

38.  The  origin  of  the  Seven  Years'  W^ar  from  a  French  standpoint    77 

A  Collection  of  all  the  Treaties  of  Peace,  Alliance^  and  Commerce 
between  Great  Britain  and  other  Powers  from  ibSSto  1772  (Lon- 
don, 17/2),  II,  177  sqq. 

39.  Frederick's  address  to  his  officers  before  Leuthen      ....    80 

Schilling,  Qnellenbuch  (as  above,  No.  29),  p.  274.  CEiivres  de 
Frederic  le  Grajid,  XXVII,  283. 


Contents  and  List  of  Citations  ix 

PACK 

40.  Frederick  declares  that  he  is  growing  old 81 

Schilling,  Quellenbuch  (as  above,  No.  29),  p.  286  sq.    CEuvres 
(as  above,  No.  39),  XIX,  353 

Section  ij.    Three  Partitions  of  Poland  {1772,  i7g3,  and  17^3^ 

41.  Catharine  II  announces  the  first  partition  of  Poland       ...    82 

Diflomatisches  Handbuch  (ed.  by  Ghillany,  Nordlingen,  1855),  I, 
208  sq. 

42.  Letter  of  Maria  Theresa  on  the  partition  of  Poland  ....    85 

Arneth,  Briefe  der  Kaiseriti  Maria   Theresa  an  ihre  Kinder 
und  Fretinde,  I,  151. 

43.  Frederick  William  II's  proclamation  to  annexed  Polish  dis- 

tricts, 1793 85 

Trans,  in  Tooke,  Life  of  Catharine  II  (London,  1 799),  III,  478  sqq. 

44.  Declaration  of  the  powers  concerning  the  final  partition  of 

Poland,  1795 88 

Diplomatisches  Handbuch  (as  above,  No.  41),  I,  246  sq. 


CHAPTER  VI  — THE  STRUGGLE  BETWEEN  FRANCE 
AND  ENGLAND  FOR  INDIA 

Section  16.    How  Europe  began  to  extend  its   Commerce 
over  the  Whole  World 

45.  An  account  of  the  overland  route  to  India  in  the  fifteenth 

century 90 

"  The  travels  of  Nicolo  Conti  in  the  East  in  the  Early  Part  of  the 
Fifteenth  Century  as  related  by  Poggio  Bracciolini,"  trans,  in 
India  in  the  Fifteoith  Century  (ed.  Major,  Hakluyt  Society 
Publications,  London,  1857),  pp.  i  sqq. 

46.  King  Manuel's   letter  announcing   the  voyage  of  Vasco  da 

Gama 92 

"Journal  of  the  First  Voyage  of  Vasco  da  Gama,  1497-1499" 
(Hakluyt  Society  Publications,  1898),  pp.  113-114. 

47.  How   the    Portuguese    speedily   established    themselves   in 

India 94 

"  The  Commentaries  of  the  Great  Afonso  Dalboquerque,  Second 
Viceroy  of  India "  (ed.  Birch,  Hakluyt  Society  Publications, 
1884),  II,  204  sqq. 

Section  ly.   England  gains  a  Foothold  in  India 

48.  Letter  of  the  Great  Mogul  to  James  I,  1614 96 

The  Etnbassy  of  Sir  Thomas  Roe  to  India  (ed.  Foster,  London, 
1899),  p.  557- 


X  Readings  in  Modern  European  History 

PAGE 

49.  A  Frenchman's  account  of  the  troubles  between  the  Dutch 

and  English  traders 97 

East  India  Company s  Records  (London,  1896-1902),  VI,  206  sq. 

50.  Colbert's  view  of  the  situation  in  India  in  1669 98 

Clement,  Lettres,  Instructions  et  Memoires  de  Colbert  (Paris, 
1861-1873),  11,4565^. 

Section  18.    India  and  the  Struggle  between  England  and 
France  for  its  Possession 

51.  India  under  the  later  Moguls loi 

PiNKERTON,  General  Collection  of  the  Best  and  Most  Interesting 
Voyages  and  Travels  (London,  1808),  VIII,  60,  133,  135  sqq. 

52.  Aurangzeb  forecasts  the  dissolution  of  the  Mogul  empire     .     104 

Elliot,  History  of  India  (London,  1867-1877),  VII,  562. 

53.  A  Dutch  report  of  the  conduct  of  Surajah  Dowlah,  1756     .     105 

India  Records    Series,  Bengal  in  1736-17^7  (ed.  by  S.  C.  Hill, 
London,  1905),  I,  53  sqq. 

54.  The  "  Black  Hole  "  of  Calcutta 107 

Orme,  a  History  of  the  Transactions  of  the  British  Nation  in 
Indostan  (London,  1778),  II,  sec.  i,  74  sqq. 

55.  Treaty  concluded  by  the  English  with  Surajah  Dowlah's 

successor 109 

Henry  Vansittart,  A  Narrative  of  Transactions  in  Bengal, 
1760  to  1764  (London,  1766),  I,  19. 

56.  Burke's  summary  of  the  case  against  Warren  Hastings    .    ,     no 

Edmund  Burke,  Works  (Boston,  1827),  VII,  17  sqq. 

CHAPTER  VII  — THE  RIVALRY  OF  FRANCE  AND 
ENGLAND   IN  NORTH  AMERICA 

Sectiofi  ig.    Now  the  European  Nations  established  them- 
selves in  the  New  World 

57.  How  Colbert  came  to  the  aid  of  the  French  settlers  in 

Canada 114 

Father  Christian  Le  Clercq,  First  Establishment  of  the 
Faith  in  New  France  (New  York,  1881),  II,  52-61  passim. 

58.  How  Marquette  descended  the  Mississippi  River  in  1673     .     116 

The  Jesuit  Relations,  edited  by  Thwaites,  LIX,  89  sqq.  passim. 

59.  Captain  John  Smith's  description  of  the  landing  in  Virginia, 

1607 121 

John  Smith,  A  True  Relation^  etc.  (London,  1608),  pp.  i  sqq. 


Contents  and  List  of  Citations  xi 

PAGE 

60.  Landing  at  Plymouth,  1620 123 

Bradford,  History  of  Plimoth  Plantation^  from  the  original 
manuscript  (Boston,  1901),  pp.  93  sqq. 

61.  How  Penn  received  his  grant  from  Charles  II 125 

Passages  from  the  Life  and  Writings  of  William  Penn  (ed. 
Cope),  p.  234. 

Section  20.    Struggle   between   Fra^ice  and  England  for 
North  America 

62.  A  Frenchman's  account  of  the  defeat  of  Braddock  .     .     .    .     126 

O'Callaghan,  Documents  relative  to  the  Colonial  History  of  the 
State  of  New  York  (Albany,  1858),  X,  303  sq. 

63.  A  Letter  of  General  Wolfe  to  his  mother 127 

Robert  Wright,  The  Life  of  Major-General  James  Wolfe 
(London,  1864),  p.  553. 

64.  The  battle  of  Quebec,  September  13,  1759 128 

Captain  John  Knox,  An  Historical  Journal  of  the  Campaigns 
in  North  America^  jy^j-iybo  (London,  1769),  II,  6z,-'j()  passim. 

Section  21.    Revolt  of  the  American  Colonies  from  England 

65.  The  Boston  Tea  Party 130 

Letters  of  Joh7i  Andrews,  Esq.,  of  Bostojt,  1772-1776  (ed.  by  Win- 
throp  Sargent),  Proceedings  of  the  Massachusetts  Historical 
Society,  1 864-1 865  (Boston,  1866),  pp.  324  sqq. 

66.  Pitt  on  the  American  colonists'  opposition  to  the  taxation  .     132 

Anecdotes  of  the  Life  of  the  Right  Honourable  William  Pitt,  Earl 
of  Chatham  (Dublin,  1792),  II,  124  sq. 

67.  Letter  of  George  III  on  necessity  of  holding  the  colonies    .     134 

The  Correspondence  of  George  HI  ivith  Lord  North,  II,  252. 

68.  Cornwallis's  own  report  of  his  surrender  at  Yorktown,  1 781   ,     135 

Charles,  First  Marquis  of  Cornwallis,  Correspondence 
(ed.  by  Ross,  London,  1859),  I,  z^\o-^\2. passim. 

CHAPTER  VIII  — THE  OLD  REGIME  IN   EUROPE 

Section  22.    Condition  of  the  Coti7itry  People  :  Serfdom 

69.  Arthur  Young's  conversation  with  a  French  peasant  woman  .    138 

Arthur  Young,  Travels  in  France  during  the  Years  1787,  1788, 
i78g  (ed.  Betham-Edwards,  Bohn  Library),  pp.  197  sq. 

70.  Feudal  dues  in  France  in  the  eighteenth  century 139 

Alexis  de  Tocqueville,  The  State  of  Society  in  France  before 
the  Revolution  of  i78g,  Note  Ixxvii,  pp.  295  sqq. 

71.  The  hunting  rights  in  France 140 

Arthur  Young,  Travels  (as  above,  No.  69),  pp.  316  sq. 


xii  Readings  in  Moderfi  Eui^opean  History 


PAGE 


Section  2J.    The  Towns  a  fid  the  Guilds 

72.  Condition  of  the  streets  of  Paris  in  1787 141 

Arthur  Young,  Travels  (as  above,  No.  69),  p.  103. 

73.  Adam  Smith  on  the  guilds  of  his  day 142 

Adam  Smith,  The  Wealth  of  Nations,  Bk.  I,  chap,  x,  pt.  2. 

74.  Preamble  to  Turgot's  edict  abolishing  the  French  guilds  in 

1776 145 

CEuvres  de  Turgot  (ed.  Daire,  1844),  II,  302  sgg. 

Section  24.    The  Nobility 

75.  Voltaire  contrasts  the  position  of  the  English  and  French 

nobility 146 

Voltaire,  Letters  on  the  English,  No.  ix  (London,  1733),  pp.  66  sq. 

Section  2^.    The  Catholic  Church 

76.  The  Roman  Catholic  conception  of  the  Church 148 

The  Catechism  of  the  Council  of  Trent,  trans,  by  J.  Donavan 
(New  York,  1829),  pp.  70  sqq. 

Section  26.    The  Jesuits  afid  Ultramontanism 

77.  Macaulay's  description  of  the  Jesuits 152 

T.  B.  Macaulay,  History  of  England,  chap,  vi, 

78.  Sufferings  endured  by  the  Jesuit  missionaries 154 

The  Jesuit  Relations  and  Allied  Documents  (Cleveland,  1895- 
1901),  XXXIX,  55  sqq.  passim. 

79.  Bull  of  Pope  Clement  XIV  suppressing  the  Jesuit  Order     .     158 

NicoLiNi,  History  of  the  Jesuits  (London,  1854),  pp.  387  sqq. 

Secfiofi  27.    The    English    Established   Church    arid  the 
Protestant  Sects 

80.  Voltaire's  impressions  of  the  English  sects  in  the  time  of 

Walpole 161 

Voltaire,  Letters  on  the  English,  No.  v,  pp.  34  sqq. 

81.  Blackstone  on  religious  toleration  in  England 162 

Blackstone,  Commentaries  on  the  Laws  of  Engla7id,  Bk.  IV. 

82.  Extracts  from  '^ esAey^s  Journal 168 

The  Heart  of  John  Wesley  s  Journal  (New  York,  no  date),  pp.  35, 
43.  69,  i39>  459- 

CHAPTER  IX  — THE   SPIRIT  OF  REFORM 

Section  28.    The  Develop7?ient  oj Modern  Science 

83.  Contrast  between  the  mediaeval  and  the  modern   attitude 

toward  natural  science .     .     172 

Whewell,  History  of  the  Inductive  Sciences  from  the  Earliest 
to  the  Present  Time,  Bk.  IV,  Introd.,  and  chap.  i. 


Contents  and  List  of  Citations  xiii 

PAGE 

84.  Francis  Bacon  proclaims  the  principles  of  modern  scientific 

progress I74 

Bacon,  The  Advancement  of  Learning  (ed.  Wright,  Oxford, 
Clarendon  Press),  Bk.  I,  iv,  5  ;  v,  6,  8  (pp.  31-32,  40-41);  also 
Novum  Organum  (ed.  Spedding,  Boston,  1863,  Vol.  VIII),  Bk.  I, 
xvi,  xix,  Ixxxix,  xc,  xcvii. 

85.  The  scientific  advance  in  the  eighteenth  century 178 

Taine,  Ancieftt  Regime,  pp.  171  sgq. 

Sec  tie  ft  2g.    How  the    Scientific  Discoveries  produced  a 
Spirit  of  Reforni 

86.  Voltaire  on  Francis  Bacon  and  Newton 179 

Voltaire,  Letters  071  the  English,  No.  xii,  pp.  83  sqq. 

87.  Voltaire  on  grace 182 

Voltaire,  Dictionnaire  philosophiqite  portatif  (1765)  —  in  its 
original  brief  form,  sub  verb.  "  Grace." 

88.  Voltaire's  views  of  the  relation  of  Church  and  State    .     .    .     184 

Ibid,  sub  verb.  "  Lois  civiles  et  ecclesiastiques." 

89.  Diderot's  preface  to  last  installment  of  the  Encyclopcedia     .     185 

Diderot,  CEuvres  completes  (Paris,  1876),  XIII,  171  sqq. 

90.  Rousseau's  summons  to  turn  back  to  nature 188 

Entile  etc  VEdtication,  par  J.  J.  Rousseau,  Citoyen  de  Geneve 
(1780),  Liv.  I  (opening). 

91.  Rousseau's  deistic  religion 189 

Rousseau,  Contrat  social,  Liv.  IV,  c.  8  ;  trans,  by  Rose  Harring- 
ton (New  York,  1893). 

92.  Montesquieu's  theory  of  the  three  powers  of  government    .     191 

Montesquieu,  Esprit  des  Ids,  Liv.  XI,  c.  vi. 

93.  Extracts  from  Beccaria's  Cri?nes  and  Ftinishfuents   ....     193 

Beccaria,  An  Essay  o?t  Crimes  and  Punishments  (Edinburgh, 
1788),  pp.  49  sqq.^  70  sq.,  in  sqq.,  169. 

94.  The  development   of  political  economy  in  the  eighteenth 

century 196 

Morellet,  Melanges  de  litterature  et  de  philosophie  du  18^ 
silcle  (Paris,  1818),  III,  4  sqq. 

CHAPTER  X  — THE  ENLIGHTENED  DESPOTS  OF 
THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY 

Section  30.    Refo7'7ns    of  Frederick   II,    Catharine    11, 
Joseph  II,  and  Charles  III 
95.  How  the  duke  of  Wiirtemberg  determined  to  become  a 

benevolent  despot 200 

RiESBECK,  Travels  through   Germany  (in   Pinkerton,    Voy- 
ages and  Travels,  London,  1808),  VI,  7. 


xiv  Readings  i?i  Moder7i  Enropea?i  History 

PAGB 

96.  Frederick  the  Great's  description  of  a  king's  duties    .     .     .     202 

PostJmmo7is  Works  of  Frederick  II,  Ki7ig  of  Prussia  (London, 
1789),  V,  10  sqq. 

97.  Marginal  notes  of  Frederick  on  reports  of  his  ministers      .    205 

Mahon,  History  of  England  (London,  1858),  IV,  Appendix, 
p.  viii. 

98.  Manifesto  of  Catherine  II  promising  reforms,  1762     .    .    .    208 

Annual  Register,  1762,  p.  227. 

99.  Catherine  II  urges  d'Alembert  to  instruct  her  son      .    .     .    209 

Ibid.  1763,  p.  41. 
100.  An    Englishman's  impressions   of    Catherine   II   and  her 

court 210 

"  Letters  of  Mr.  Harris  to  English  friends,"  in  Malmesbury, 
Diaries  and  Correspondence  (London,  1844),  I,  161  sqq. 

loi.  Joseph  II  gives  his  ideas  of  government,  1765 213 

"  Denkschrift  des  Kaisers  Joseph  iiber  den  Zustand  des  oster- 
reichischen  Monarchie  (Ende  1765),"  in  Maria  Theresa  und 
Joseph  II,  ihre  Correspondenz,  heraiisgegeben  von  Arneth 
(Vienna,  1868),  III,  335  sqq.,  344  sq.,  2,4^^,-2,60  passim. 

102.  A  German  traveler's  impressions  of  Joseph  II  and  Maria 

Theresa 217 

RiESBECK,  Travels  (as  above.  No.  95),  VI,  78  sq.,  81  sq. 

Section  31.    Peadiarities  of  the  English   Govermfient  in 
the  Eightee7ith  Century 

103.  Blackstone  on  the  English  Parliament 220 

Blackstone,  Commentaries  (as  above,  No.  81),  Bk.  I. 

CHAPTER  XI  — THE  EVE  OF  THE  FRENCH 
REVOLUTION 

Section  32.    The  Ancien  Regime  in  France 

104.  Uncertainty  and  confusion  of  the  Ancien  Regime    ....     225 

Madame  la  Baronne  de  Stael,  Considkrations  sur  les 
principaux  evenemens  de  la  revolution  franqaise  (1818),  I, 
129  sqq. 

105.  Protest  of  a  French  court  against  the  lettres  de  cachet     .     .     227 

Memoires  sur  Lamoignon  de  Malesherbes,  par  Eugene  de  Vig- 
naux  (1876),  pp.  61,  69  sqq.,  81  sqq. 

106.  Extracts  from  Arthur  Young's  Travels 229 

Arthur  Young,  T'raw/^  (as above.  No. 69),  pp.  102  sqq.,  60 sq., 
123,  125,  193,  197  sq. 

107.  Jefferson  finds  less  misery  in  France  than  he  had  expected     234 

Works  of  Thomas  Jefferson  (ed.  Ford),  II,  135  sq. 


Contents  aiid  List  of  Citations  xv 

Section  33.    How  Louis  XVL  tried  to  play  the  Benevolent 
Despot  PAGE 

108.  Marie  Antoinette  reports  to  her  mother  that  she  is  now 

a  queen 235 

Maria  Theresa  und  Maria  Antoinette^  ihr  Briefuechsel  (ed. 
Arneth,  1866),  pp.  105  sqq. 

109.  Turgot's  letter  to  Louis  XVI  on  assuming  office     ....    237 

Q£tivres  de  Turgot  (ed.  Daire,  1844),  II,  165  sqq.;  trans,  by 
W.  W.  Stephens,  The  Life  and  Works  of  Turgot  (1895), 
pp.  85  sqq. 

1 10.  Maria  Theresa  warns  her  daughter  of  the  dangers  of  dis- 

sipation      239 

Briefwechsel  (as  above,  No.  108),  pp.  174  sq. 

111.  Maria  Theresa  on  the  European  situation  in  1777  ....    240 

Ibid.  pp.  201  sqq. 

112.  How  France  became  interested  in  the  American  Revolu- 

tion   242 

M'emoires  du  comte  de  S'egiir  (ed,  Barriere,  1859),  I,  68  sqq. 

113.  Necker  reviews  his  own  administration 244 

Necker,  De  Vadministratio7i  des  fi fiances  de  la  France, 
Introd. 

114.  Necker  on  the  sway  of  public  opinion  in  France     ....    245 

Ibid. 

CHAPTER  XII  — THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION 

Section  34.    LLow  the  Estates  General  were  summoned 

in  ijSg 

115.  CVz/izVr  of  the  third  estate  of  Carcassonne 248 

Archives  parlementaires,  II,  532  sqq. 

116.  The  opening  of  the  Estates  General 251 

Madame  -d^.  C A-i,\.v Ati, Memoires sur  la  vie  de  Marie-Antoinette 
(ed.  Barriere,  1855),  pp.  227  sqq. 

117.  Arthur  Young  visits  the  National  Assembly 252 

Arthur  Young  (as above,  No.  69),  152  sg.,  155  sq.,  163  sqq. 

Section  35.    First  Refor?ns  of  the  National  Assembly, 
{fuly  to  October,  lySg) 

118.  Decree  abolishing  the  feudal  system 256 

Buchez  et  Roux,  Histoire  parlementaire,  II,  2^g  sqq. 

119.  Declaration  of  the  rights  of  man 260 

Ibid.  XI,  404  sqq. 


xvi  Readings  i7i  Modei'u  European  History 

Section  j6.    The  National  Asseinbly  at  Paris  {October,  lySg, 
to  Septeinber,  ^79^)  page 

120.  Mirabeau's  advice  to  the  king  in  October,  1789 263 

Correspondance  entre  Mirabeaii  et  le  conite  dc  la  Marck,  I, 
364  sgq. 

121.  The  Assembly  reviews  its  great  work 26S 

^■'       Histoire  par  lenient  aire  (as  above,  No.  ii8),  IV,  329  sqq. 

/1 22.  The  civil  constitution  of  the  clergy,  July,  1790 273 

Proces-verbal  de  V Assemblee  tiationale  (in  75  vols.),  No.  346. 
Also  in  Sloane,  The  French  Revolution  and  Religious 
Reform,  Appendix,  pp.  295  sqq. 

CHAPTER  XIII  — THE  FIRST  FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

Section  jy.    The  Abolitiofi  of  the  Monarchy  (^lygi-iygs) 

123.  How  the  Parisians  viewed  the  flight  of  the  king      ....    278 

Prudhomme,  "  Revolutions  de  Paris,"  No.  CII,  Histoire  par- 
lemeniaire,  X,  241  sqq. 

124.  Marat  attacks  Lafayette  and  the  royalists 281 

Qn^yKRMOtiT,  Jean-Paul  Marat,  I,  490  sqq. 

125.  The  Declaration  of  Pillnitz 282 

Martens,  Recueil  des  principaux  iraites,  V,  260. 

126.  Opinion  of  a  royalist  on  the  work  of  the  Assembly     .     .    .    283 

Le  Mercure  de  France  (October,  1791),  quoted  in  Memoires  et 
Correspondafice  de  Mallet  du  Pan  (ed.  Sayous),  I,  240  sqq. 

127.  How  the  Jacobin  Club  originated  in  1789 285 

Alexandre  de  Lameth,  L Histoire  de  V Assemblee  constitu- 
ante,  I,  422. 

128.  Letter  of  Louis  XVI  to  the  king  of  Prussia 288 

Louis  XVI,  Marie  Antoinette  et  Madajue  Elisabeth,  lettres  et 
docttments  inedits,  publics  par  Feuillet  de  Conches,  IV,  269  sqq. 

129.  Count  of  Provence  summoned  back  to  France 289 

Histoire  parlemefitaire,  XII,  231  sqq. 

130.  The  French  Assembly  declares  war  on  Austria 289 

Duvergier,  Collection  compile  des  lois,  decrets,  etc.  (ed.  of 
1824),  IV,  140  sq. 

131.  Decree  against  the  nonjuring  priests 291 

Ibid.  IV,  209  sq. 

132.  The  proclamation  of  the  duke  of  Brunswick 292 

Histoire  parlementaire,  XVI,  762  sqq. 

Section  38.    The  Reign  of  Terror 

133.  The  debate  during  the  first  session  of  the  Convention    .     .    295 

Histoire  parlementaire,  XIX,  9  sqq. 


Conte?its  and  List  of  Citations  xvii 

PAGE 

134.  Proclamation  of  the  Convention  to   the  nations,  Decem- 

ber, 1792       298 

DuvERGiER  (as  above,  No.  130),  V,  105  sq. 

135.  Announcement  of  the  death  of  Louis  XVI  to  the  Emigres    299 

Le  Moniteur  (February  26,  1793). 

136.  Selections  from  the  Republican  Institutions  of  Saint-Just    .    301 

CEuvres  de  Saint-Just  (1834),  pp.  361  sqq.,  391  sq.,  395  sqq., 
406  sqq. 

137.  Desmoulins  seeks  to  extenuate  the  Reign  of  Terror  .    .     .    303 

"  Le  Vieux  Cordelier,"  No.  Ill  (opening),  CEuvres  de  Caniille 
Desmoulins  (1872),  III,  3  sqq. 

138.  Desmoulins  pleads  for  clemency 307 

Ibid.  No.  IV  (opening),  III,  27  sqq. 

CHAPTER  XIV  — NAPOLEON   BONAPARTE 

Section  3g.    Bofiaparte^s  First  Italian  Ca?npaign 

139.  How  Napoleon  and  Joseph  learned  French    ......    309 

Jung,  Bonaparte  et  son  Tetups,  ijbg-iygg,  I,  70  sq. 

140.  Napoleon's  early  insight  into  character 310 

Ibid.  pp.  97  sqq. 

141.  Circumstances  under  which  Bonaparte  undertook  the  cam- 

paign     312 

Count  de  las  Cases,  Memorial  de  Sainte-Hel>ne,  Journal  of 

the  Private  Life  and  Conversations  of  Emperor  Napoleon 

(New  York,  1823),  I,  108  sqq. 

1142.  Bonaparte's  proclamation  to  his  soldiers 315 

Correspondance  de  Napoleon  /,  I,  187  sq. 

143.  How  Bonaparte  signed  the  Treaty  of  Campo-Formio     .    .    316 

BouRRlENNE,   Memoirs  of  Napoleo^i  Bonaparte  (Boston),  I, 
117  sqq. 

Section   40.    How   Bonaparte    made    himself  Master  of 
France 

144.  Bonaparte's  proclamation  to  his  Egyptian  army,  Septem- 

ber, 1798 318 

Correspondance,  V,  i. 

145.  Bonaparte  informs   the    Mohammedans   that    he   is  their 

friend 319 

Original  Journals  of  the  Eighteen  Campaigns  of  the  Emperor 
Napoleon  Bonaparte  (London),  II,  20  sq. 

146.  Bonaparte's  attitude  toward  his  Egyptian  adventure  .     .     .    320 

Madame  de  R^:musat,  Memoirs  (English  trans.),  pp.  99  sq. 


xviii  Readings  in  Modern  E^tropean  History 

PAGE 

147.  Bonaparte's  own  account  of  Brumaire 322 

Corrcspondance,  VI,  5  sq. 

148.  Bonaparte's  manners  when  First  Consul 324 

Madame  de  Remusat,  Memoirs,  pp.  48  sq.,  note 

149.  How  Bonaparte  made  others  uncomfortable 325 

Ibid.  pp.  70  sq. 

150.  How  Bonaparte  won  the  hearts  of  his  soldiers 326 

Ibid.  pp.  86  sq. 

Sectiofi  41.    The  Secofid  Coalitio7i  against  Frafice 

151.  The  campaign  of  Marengo 327 

BouRRiENNE,  Me7iioirs,  II,  i  sqq. passim 

152.  Chief  articles  of  the  Treaty  of  Luneville 329 

Meyer,   Corpus  juris  confoederationis  Gertnanicae  (2d  ed.), 
I,  2  sqq. 

CHAPTER  XV  — EUROPE  AND  NAPOLEON 

Section  42.    Bonaparte  restores   Order  and  Prosperity  in 
France 

153.  Why  the  French  people  submitted  to  Bonaparte's  rule  .     .     t^^t^ 

Madame  de  Remusat,  Memoirs,  pp.  160  sq. 

154.  Napoleon's  account  of  the  internal  condition  of  France  in 

1804 334 

"  Expose  de  la  situation  de  1'  empire,  10  nivose,  an  XIII,"  Ar- 
chives parlementaires,  2d  series,  VIII,  pt.  i,  398  sqq. 

155.  Impatience  of  the  French  soldiers  to  invade  England    .    .    337 

Wairy  Louis  Constant,  Recollections  of  the  Private  Life  of 
Napoleon,  trans,  by  Walter  Clark  (1902),  I,  250  sqq. 

156.  Napoleon's  proclamation  to  his  soldiers  after  Austerlitz     .    339 

Annual  Register  1805,  pp.  665  sq. 

Section  4J.    Napoleon   destroys  the  Holy  Ro??ia?t  Efnpire 
and  reorganizes  Germany 

157.  Napoleon  announces  the  formation  of  the  Confederation 

of  the  Rhine 341 

Meyer,  Corpus  juris  confoederationis  Germanicae  (2d  ed.),  I, 
101  sq. 

158.  Abdication  of  the  last  Roman  emperor 344 

Ibid.  I,  107. 

Section  44.    The  Continental  Blockade 

159.  The  Berlin  Decree 00..    346 

Correspondance  de  Napoleon  I,  XIII,  551  sqq. 


Co7itents  a7id  List  of  Citations  xix 

PAGE 

1 60.  The  Milan  Decree 348 

Correspondance,  XVI,  192  sq. 

161.  A  contemporary's  criticism  of  Napoleon's  policy     ....    349 

Pasquier,  History  of  My  Owti  Time,  I,  313  sgq. 

Section  4^.    Napoleon  at  the  Zenith  of  his  Power  (1808-18 12) 

162.  Extracts  from  the  imperial  catechism 351 

Larousse,  Dictionnaire  universclle,  sub  verb.  "  Catechisme  de 
I'empire  frangais." 

163.  Napoleon's  proclamation  to  the  Spaniards 352 

Correspondance,  XVIII,  103  sq. 

164.  Decrees  abolishing  the  feudal  dues  in  Spain 354 

Ibid.  No.  14,526,  Vol.  XVIII. 

165.  Decree  abolishing  the  Inquisition 354 

Ibid.  No.  14,527. 

166.  Decree  abolishing  monastic  orders       354 

Ibid.  No.  14,528. 

167.  Decree  abolishing  the  interior  customs  lines 354 

Ibid.  No.  14,529. 

168.  Decree  "  reuniting  "  the  papal  states  to  France 355 

Ibid.  No.  15,219,  Vol.  XIX. 

169.  Napoleon's  view  of  his  destiny 355 

"Declaration  to  representatives  of  Holland  (August  18,  1810)," 
Archives parlementaires,  2d  series,  Vol.  XI. 

Section  46.    The  Fall  of  Napoleon 

170.  Napoleon's  proclamation  at  the  opening  of  the  Russian 

campaign 356 

Correspondance,  XXVIII,  528  sq. 

171.  The  crossing  of  the  Beresina 357 

Constant  (as  above,  No.  155),  III,  iii  sqq. passitn. 

172.  Napoleon's  conduct  after  Jena 360 

Pasquier  (as  above,  No.  161),  I,  311  sq. 

173.  The  Prussian  reform  edict  of  October,  1807 361 

Geseiz-Sammlung  fUr  konigUchen  preussischen  Staaien,  i8ob- 
1810,  Anhang,  pp.  170  sqq. 

174.  The  king  of  Prussia  "y^«  ;;z^m  Volk^^ 363 

Schilling,  Quellenbuch  (as  above,  No.  29),  pp.  -^^-j-j  sq. 

175.  Stein's  account  of  the  battle  of  Leipzig 365 

Pertz,  Das  Leben  des  Ministers  Freiherrn  vom  Stein,  III,  433; 
Schilling,  pp.  390  sq. 

176.  Treaty  of  Fontainebleau 366 

Correspondance,  XXVII,  361. 


XX  Readings  in  Moderii  Enropea^i  History 

PAGE 

177.  Declaration  of  the  allies,  March  13,  181 5 367 

British  and  Foreign  State  Papers^  II,  665. 

178.  Napoleon's  exile  on  St.  Helena 369 

Las  Cases  (as  above.  No.  141),  I,  52  sq.,  61  sq.^  170  sq. 

CHAPTER  XVI  — THE  RECONSTRUCTION   OF 
EUROPE  AT  THE  CONGRESS   OF  VIENNA 

Section  4^.    The  Co7igress  of  Vie?ma  and  its  Work 

179.  Talleyrand's  discouragement  on  starting  for  the  congress  .    372 

Pasquier,  History  of  My  Orvn  Time,  Memoirs,  III,  73  sq. 

180.  Talleyrand  describes  his  success 373 

Correspondence  of  Prince  Talleyrand  and  Kiftg  Loitis  XVIII 
during  the  Congress  of  Vientia,  pp.  240  sqq. 

iSi.   The  rivalry  of  the  various  European  rulers  at  Vienna     .     .     375 
Memoirs   of  Prince   Metternich    (New   York,   1880-1889),   II, 

554  sqq- 

182.  Chief  provisions  of  the  Act  of  Vienna 381 

Hertslet,  The  Map  of  Europe  by  Treaty  (London,  1875),  I, 
211  sqq. 

Section  48.    The  Holy  AUiance :    Metterfiich  becomes  the 
Chief  Opponent  of  Revolution 

183.  The  Holy  Alliance 384 

Hertslet  (as  above,  No.  182),  I,  317  sq. 

184.  Views  of  Metternich  on  the  proper  policy  of  the  European 

governments 386 

Metnoirs  of  Pritice  Metternich,  III,  474  sqq. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 389 


READINGS  IN  MODERN 
EUROPEAN  HISTORY 

VOLUME  I 

THE  EIGHTEENTH   CENTURY: 

THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION  AND 

THE  NAPOLEONIC   PERIOD 


READINGS    IN    MODERN 
EUROPEAN   HISTORY 

CHAPTER   I 

FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  XIV 

Section  I.    France  before  Louis  XIV 

Richelieu  was  evidently  very  desirous  to  leave  to  pos- 
terity a  full  account  of  his  deeds  and  a  complete  justi- 
fication of  his  poHcy.  He  undertook  to  collect  material 
for  an  elaborate  history  of  the  reign  of  Louis  XHI,  but 
fearing  that  his  frail  constitution  would  never  permit 
him  to  complete  the  work,  he  conceived  it  to  be  his  duty 
to  leave  a  brief  statement,  at  least,  of  the  most  needed  re- 
forms, as  a  guide  for  the  king  when  his  minister  should 
be  dead.  In  this  way  Richelieu's  famous  ''  Pohtical  Tes- 
tament "  originated.    It  opens  as  follows  : 

At  the  time  when  your  Majesty  resolved  to  admit  me  to  i.  Riche- 
your  council  and  to  an  important  place  in  your  confidence  and  ^^®"'®  ^^^^^^ 
in  the  direction  of  your  affairs,  I  may  say  that  the  Huguenots  tionof  Frana 
shared  the  State  with  you ;  that  the  nobles  conducted  them-  when  he 
selves  as  if  they  were  not  your  subjects,  and  the  most  powerful  jg^^™^  ^^ 
governors  of  the  provinces  as  if  they  were  sovereign  in  their 
offices.  .   .   . 

I  may  say  that  every  one  measured  his  own  merit  by  his 
audacity ;   that  in  place  of  estimating  the  benefits  which  they 


2  Readings  in  Modern  European  History 

received  from  your  Majesty  at  their  proper  worth,  all  valued 
them  only  in  so  far  as  they  satisfied  the  extravagant  demands 
of  their  imagination ;  that  the  most  unscrupulous  were  held  to 
be  the  wisest,  and  found  themselves  the  most  prosperous. 

I  may  also  say  that  the  foreign  alliances  were  unfortunate, 
individual  interests  being  preferred  to  those  of  the  public  ;  in  a 
word,  the  dignity  of  the  royal  majesty  was  so  disparaged,  and  so 
different  from  what  it  should  be,  owing  to  the  malfeasance  of 
those  who  conducted  your  affairs,  that  it  was  almost  impossible 
to  perceive  its  existence.  .  .  . 

Thoughtful  observers  did  not  think  that  it  would  be  possible 
to  escape  all  the  rocks  in  so  tempestuous  a  period ;  the  court 
was  full  of  people  who  censured  the  temerity  of  those  who 
wished  to  undertake  a  reform ;  all  well  knew  that  princes  are 
quick  to  impute  to  those  who  are  near  them  the  bad  outcome 
of  the  undertakings  upon  which  they  have  been  well  advised ; 
few  people  consequently  expected  good  results  from,  the  change 
which  it  was  announced  that  I  wished  to  make,  and  many 
believed  my  fall  assured  even  before  your  Majesty  had  ele- 
vated  me. 

Notwithstanding  these  difficulties,  which  I  represented  to 
your  Majesty,  knowing  how  much  kings  may  do  when  they 
make  good  use  of  their  power,  I  ventured  to  promise  you, 
with  confidence,  that  you  would  soon  get  control  of  your  State, 
and  that  in  a  short  time  your  prudence,  your  courage,  and  the 
benediction  of  God  would  give  a  new  aspect  to  the  realm. 

I  promised  your  Majesty  to  employ  all  my  industry  and  all 
the  authority  which  it  should  please  you  to  give  me  to  ruin  the 
Huguenot  party,  to  abase  the  pride  of  the  nobles,  to  bring  back 
all  your  subjects  to  their  duty,  and  to  elevate  your  name  among 
foreign  nations  to  the  point  where  it  belongs. 

Sir  William  Temple,  an  able  English  diplomat  and 
man  of  letters,  gives  a  striking  picture  of  the  flourishing 
condition  of  France  during  the  first  half  of  Louis  XIV's 
reign.  This  he  attributes  largely  to  the  wise  policy  of 
Richelieu  and  Mazarin. 


France  under  Loins  XIV  3 

The  crowTi  of  France,  considered  in  the  extent  of  country,  2.  Sir 

in  the  number  of  people,  in  the  riches  of  commodities,  in  the  William 

revenues  of  the  king,  the  greatness  of  the  land  forces  now  on  account  of 

foot,  and  the  growth  of  those  at  sea  (within  these  two  years  France 

past),  the  number  and  bravery  of  its  officers,  the  conduct  of  ^JLl^^    ,.  ^ 
.    .  1      1  •    n     •        1  •  r    •  ,  .  (The  English 

Its  mmisters,  and  chiefly  m  the  genius  of  its  present  king,  a  is  slightly 

prince  of  great  aspiring  thoughts,  unwearied  application  to  modernized) 
whatever  is  in  pursuit,  severe  in  the  establishment  and  preser- 
vation of  order  and  discipline;  in  the  main  a  manager  of  his 
treasure  and  yet  naturally  bountiful  whenever  he  intends  to 
bestow  the  marks  of  favor  or  discerns  particular  merit;  in  the 
flower  of  his  age,  at  the  head  of  all  his  armies,  and  hitherto 
unfoiled  in  any  of  his  attempts  either  at  home  or  abroad  —  I 
say,  considered  in  all  these  circumstances,  France  appears  to 
be  designed  for  greater  achievements  and  empires  than  have 
been  seen  in  Christendom  since  that  of  Charlemagne. 

The  present  greatness  of  this  crown  may  be  chiefly  attributed  important 
to  the  fortune  it   has  had  in  two  2;reat  ministers  FRichelieu  services  of 

,-,^•-1  1-  11  1-  Richelieu 

and  Mazarm]  succeeding  one  another,  between  two  great  kings,  ^nd  Mazarin 

Henry  IV  and  this  present  prince ;  so  that  during  the  course 

of  one  inactive  life  and  of  a  long  minority  that  crown  gained 

a  great  deal  of  ground  both  at  home  and  abroad,  instead  of 

losing  it,  which  is  the  common  fate  of  kingdoms  upon  those 

occasions. 

The  later  greatness  of  this  crown  began  in  the  time  of 
Louis  XI,  who  proposed  to  bring  the  government  into  his  own 
hands.  ...  'T  is  not  here  necessary  to  observe  by  what  diffi- 
culties and  dangers  to  the  crown  this  design  of  Louis  was 
pursued  by  many  succeeding  kings,  —  like  a  great  stone  forced 
up  a  hill,  and,  upon  every  slacking  of  either  strength  or  care, 
rolling  a  great  way  back,  often  to  the  very  bottom  of  the  hill, 
and  sometimes  with  the  destruction  of  those  that  forced  it 
on,  —  till  the  time  of  Cardinal  Richelieu.  It  was  this  great 
minister  most  to  be  admired  that,  finding  the  regency  shaken 
by  the  factions  of  so  many  great  ones  within,  and  awed  by 
the  terror  of  the  Spanish  greatness  without,  durst  resolve  to 
look  them  both  in  the  face,  and  begin  a  war  by  the  course  of 
which  for  so  many  years  (being  continued  by  Mazarin  till  the 


4  Readings  m  Modern  European  History 

year  1 660)  the  crown  of  France  grew  to  be  powerfully  armed  ; 
the  peasants  were  accustomed  to  payments  (which  could  have 
seemed  necessary  only  in  time  of  war,  and  which  none  but  a 
successful  one  could  have  helped  to  make  tolerable)  and  grew 
stolid  as  they  grew  poor. 

The  princes  were  sometimes  placated  by  commands  in  the 
army,  sometimes  mortified  and  suppressed  by  the  absoluteness 
or  adroitness  of  the  ministry.  The  most  boiling  blood  of  the 
nobility  and  gentry  was  let  out  in  so  long  a  war,  or  wasted 
away  with  age  and  exercise ;  at  last  the  war  ended  in  a  peace 
at  the  Pyrenees  and  the  match  so  advantageous  to  France, 
and  the  glory  of  both  of  these  contributed  much  to  the  au- 
thority of  the  young  king,  who  was  bred  up  in  the  councils 
and  served  by  the  tried  instruments  of  the  former  ministry ; 
but  most  of  all,  advantaged  by  his  own  personal  qualities,  fit 
to  make  him  obeyed,  he  grew  absolute  master  of  the  factions 
of  the  great  men,  as  well  as  the  purses  of  his  people.  .  .  . 

Section  2.    Lords  XIV  {1643-17 13) 

It  is  especially  difiQcult  with  our  modern  democratic 
notions  to  understand  the  views  and  sentiments  of  those 
who  have  regarded  obedience  to  the  king,  however  per- 
verse and  licentious  he  might  be,  as  a  sacred  obligation. 
Nowhere  is  the  divine  nature  of  the  kingly  power  set 
forth  with  more  eloquence  and  ardor  than  in  the  work  of 
the  distinguished  prelate,  orator,  and  theologian,  Bossuet, 
whom  Louis  XIV  chose  as  the  preceptor  of  his  son,  the 
dauphin  (1670-168 1).  His  treatise  on  Politics  drazvn 
from  the  Very  Words  of  Holy  Scripture  was  prepared 
with  a  view  of  giving  the  heir  to  the  French  throne  a 
proper  idea  both  of  his  lofty  position  and  of  his  heavy 
responsibilities.  No  one  can  read  this  work  without 
being  profoundly  impressed  with  the  irresistible  appeal 
which  kingship,  as  Bossuet  represents  it,  must  make  to 


France  imder  Loins  XIV  5 

a  mind  that  looked  to  the  Scriptures  for  its  theories  of 
government. 

The  essential  characteristics  of  royalty,  Bossuet  ex- 
plains, are,  first,  that  it  is  sacred  ;  second,  paternal ; 
third,  absolute  ;  and  fourth,  subject  to  reason.  He  then 
continues  as  follows  : 

We   have  already  seen   that  all    power   is  of  God.-^    The  3.  Extracts 
ruler,  adds   St.  Paul,  ''  is  the   minister  of    God   to   thee   for  *^°™ 
good.    But  if  thou  do  that  which  is  evil,  be  afraid ;  for  he  ^oj-^  on 
beareth  not  the  sword  in  vain  :  for  he  is  the  minister  of  God,  kingship 
a  revenger   to   execute  wrath    upon    him   that  doeth  evil."  ^ 
Rulers  then  act  as  the  ministers  of  God  and  as  his  lieutenants 
on  earth.    It  is  through  them  that  God  exercises  his  empire. 
Think   ye  "  to  withstand   the    kingdom   of    the   Lord   in   the 
hand  of  the   sons  of  David  "?^    Consequently,  as  we   have 
seen,  the  royal  throne  is  not  the  throne  of  a  man,  but  the 
throne  of  God  himself.  .  .  . 

Moreover,  that  no  one  may  assume  that  the  Israelites  were  Kingship 
peculiar  in  having  kings  over  them  who  were  established  by  f  ^i^'"^ 

^  r         .  f  .      „      ,      .        .  <f  ^     1    ,  .  institution 

God,  note  what  is  said  m  Ecclesiasticus  :  God  has  given  to 
every  people  its  ruler,  and  Israel  is  manifestly  reserved  to 
him."  ^  He  therefore  governs  all  peoples  and  gives  them  their 
kings,  although  he  governed  Israel  in  a  more  intimate  and 
obvious  manner. 

It  appears  from  all  this  that  the  person  of  the  king  is 
sacred,  and  that  to  attack  him  in  any  way  is  sacrilege.  .  .  . 
Kings  should  be  guarded  as  holy  things,  and  whosoever  neg- 
lects to  protect  them  is  worthy  of  death.   .  .   . 

But  kings,  although  their  power  comes  from  on  high,  as  has  Warning  to 
been  said,  should  not  regard  themselves  as  masters  of  that  ^'"^^  *^  ^^' 

...  ,  ,        ercise  their 

power  to  use  it  at  their  pleasure ;    .   .    .   they  must  employ  p^^^.^j.  j^  ^^g 

,  _,    .      .  r^     T^      ,  ,      ^  ...  N      „  T  1   ^63^^  of  the 

1  Referring  to  St.  Paul's  words  (Romans  xiu.  1,2):      Let  every  soul  \^q^^ 

be  subject  unto  the  higher  powers.    For  there  is  no  power  but  of  God : 

the  powers  that  be  are  ordained  of  God.    Whosoever  therefore  resisteth 

the  power,  resisteth  the  ordinance  of  God ;  and  they  that  resist  shall 

receive  to  themselves  damnation."  2  gee  Romans  xiii.  1-7. 

^  Chronicles  xiii.  8.  ^  Ecclesiasticus  xvii.  14,  15. 


6  Readings  in  Modern  European  History 

it  with  fear  and  self-restraint,  as  a  thing  coming  from  God 
and  of  which  God  will  demand  an  account.  ''  Hear,  O  kings, 
and  take  heed ;  miderstand,  judges  of  the  earth ;  lend  your 
ears,  ye  who  hold  the  peoples  under  your  sway,  and  delight 
to  see  the  multitude  that  surround  you.  It  is  God  who  gives 
you  the  power.  Your  strength  comes  from  the  Most  High, 
who  will  question  your  works  and  penetrate  the  depths  of 
your  thoughts,  for,  being  ministers  of  his  kingdom,  ye  have 
not  given  righteous  judgments  nor  have  ye  walked  according 
to  his  will.  He  will  straightway  appear  to  you  in  a  terrible 
manner,  for  to  those  who  command  is  the  heaviest  punish- 
ment reserved.  The  humble  and  the  weak  shall  receive 
mercy,  but  the  mighty  shall  be  mightily  tormented.  For  God 
fears  not  the  power  of  any  one,  because  he  made  both  great 
and  small  and  he  has  care  for  both."  ^  .  .   . 

Kings  should  tremble  then  as  they  use  the  power  God 
has  granted  them ;  and  let  them  think  how  horrible  is  the 
sacrilege  if  they  use  for  evil  a  power  which  comes  from  God. 
We  behold  kings  seated  upon  the  throne  of  the  Lord,  bear- 
ing in  their  hand  the  sword  which  God  himself  has  given 
them.  What  profanation,  what  arrogance,  for  the  unjust  king 
to  sit  on  God's  throne,  to  render  decrees  contrary  to  his  laws, 
and  to  use  the  sword  which  God  has  put  in  his  hand  for  deeds 
of  violence  and  to  slay  his  children  !  .  .  . 
The  royal  The  loyal  power  is  absolute.  With  the  aim  of  making  this 
power  is  truth  hateful  and  insufferable,  many  writers  have  tried  to 
confound  absolute  government  with  arbitrary  government. 
But  no  two  things  could  be  more  unlike,  as  we  shall  show 
when  we  come  to  speak  of  justice. 

The  prince  need  render  account  of  his  acts  to  no  one. 
"  I  counsel  thee  to  keep  the  king's  commandment,  and  that 
in  regard  of  the  oath  of  God.  Be  not  hasty  to  go  out  of  his 
sight :  stand  not  on  an  evil  thing,  for  he  doeth  whatsoever 
pleaseth  him.  Where  the  word  of  a  king  is,  there  is  power  : 
and  who  may  say  unto  him,  What  doest  thou  ?  Whoso  keepeth 
the  commandment  shall  feel  no  evil  thing."  ^  Without  this 
absolute  authority  the  king  could  neither  do  good  nor  repress 
1  Book  of  Wisdom  vi.  2  sqq.  2  Ecclesiasticus  viii.  2-5. 


France  tinder  Louis  XIV  7 

evil.  It  is  necessary  that  his  power  be  such  that  no  one  can 
hope  to  escape  him,  and,  finally,  the  only  protection  of  indi- 
viduals against  the  public  authority  should  be  their  innocence. 
This  conforms  with  the  teaching  of  St.  Paul :  '*  Wilt  thou  then 
not  be  afraid  of  the  power?    Do  that  which  is  good."  ^ 

I  do  not  call  majesty  that  pomp  which  surrounds  kings  or  The  real 
that  exterior  magnificence  which  dazzles  the  vulgar.    That  is  grandeur 
but  the  reflection  of  majesty  and  not  majesty  itself.    Majesty 
is  the  image  of  the  grandeur  of  God  in  the  prince. 

God  is  infinite,  God  is  all.    The  prince,  as  prince,  is  not  The  whole 
regarded  as  a  private  person ;  he  is  a  public  personage ;  all  ^*^*^  ^^' 
the  State  is  in  him ;  the  will  of  all  the  people  is  included  in  t^e  prince 
his.    As  all  perfection  and  all  strength  are  united  in  God,  so 
all  the  power  of  individuals  is  united  in  the  person  of  the  prince. 
What  grandeur  that  a  single  man  should  embody  so  much  ! 

The  power  of  God  makes  itself  felt  in  a  moment  from  one 
extremity  of  the  earth  to  another.  Royal  power  works  at  the 
same  time  throughout  all  the  realm.  It  holds  all  the  realm 
in  position,  as  God  holds  the  earth.  Should  God  withdraw 
his  hand,  the  earth  would  fall  to  pieces ;  should  the  king's 
authority  cease  in  the  realm,  all  would  be  in  confusion. 

Look  at  the  prince  in  his  cabinet.  Thence  go  out  the 
orders  which  cause  the  magistrates  and  the  captains,  the 
citizens  and  the  soldiers,  the  provinces  and  the  armies  on 
land  and  on  sea,  to  work  in  concert.  He  is  the  image  of  God, 
who,  seated  on  his  throne  high  in  the  heavens,  makes  all 
nature  move.  .  .  . 

Finally,  let  us  put  together  the  things  so  great  and  so  Summary 
august  which  we  have  said  about  royal  authority.  Behold  an 
immense  people  united  in  a  single  person;  behold  this  holy 
power,  paternal  and  absolute ;  behold  the  secret  cause  which 
governs  the  whole  body  of  the  State,  contained  in  a  single 
head  :  you  see  the  image  of  God  in  the  king,  and  you  have 
the  idea  of  royal  majesty.  God  is  holiness  itself,  goodness 
itself,  and  power  itself.  In  these  things  lies  the  majesty  of 
God.  In  the  image  of  these  things  lies  the  majesty  of  the 
prince. 

1  Romans  xiii.  3. 


8  Readings  in  Modem  European  History 

Vet  kings  are  So  great  is  this  majesty  that  it  cannot  reside  in  the  prince 
but  mortal  ^g  j^-g  gQurce ;  it  is  borrowed  from  God,  who  gives  it  to  him 
for  the  good  of  the  people  whom  it  is  desirable  to  check  by 
a  superior  force.  Something  of  divinity  itself  is  attached  to 
princes  and  inspires  fear  in  the  people.  The  king  should  not 
forget  this.  "  I  have  said,"  —  it  is  God  who  speaks,  —  "I  have 
said,  Ye  are  gods  ;  and  all  of  you  are  children  of  the  Most  High. 
But  ye  shall  die  like  men,  and  fall  like  one  of  the  princes."  ^ 
"  I  have  said,  Ye  are  gods  "  ;  that  is  to  say,  you  have  in  your 
authority,  and  you  bear  on  your  forehead,  a  divine  imprint. 
''You  are  the  children  of  the  Most  High";  it  is  he  who  has 
established  your  power  for  the  good  of  mankind.  But,  O  gods 
of  flesh  and  blood,  gods  of  clay  and  dust,  "ye  shall  die  like 
men,  and  fall  like  princes."  Grandeur  separates  men  for  a  little 
time,  but  a  common  fall  makes  them  all  equal  at  the  end. 

O  kings,  exercise  your  power  then  boldly,  for  it  is  divine 
and  salutary  for  human  kind,  but  exercise  it  with  humility. 
You  are  endowed  with  it  from  without.  Know  that  it  leaves 
you  feeble,  it  leaves  you  mortal,  it  leaves  you  sinners,  and 
charges  you  before  God  with  a  very  heavy  account. 

Saint-Simon,  the  king  of  memoir  writers,  when  seventy- 
two  years  old,  wrote  an  account  of  the  first  three  Bourbon 
kings.  The  following  passage  from  this  work  sums  up 
the  characteristics  of  Louis  XIV  which  are  exhibited  in 
greater  detail  throughout  Saint-Simon's  famous  Memoirs, 

4.  Saint-  The  king's  great  qualities  shone  more  brilliantly  by  reason 

Simon's  por-  q^  ^^  exterior  so  unique  and  incomparable  as  to  lend  infinite 
Louis  XIV  distinction  to  his  slightest  actions ;  the  very  figure  of  a  hero, 
so  impregnated  with  a  natural  but  most  imposing  majesty  that 
it  appeared  even  in  his  most  insignificant  gestures  and  move- 
ments, without  arrogance  but  with  simple  gravity ;  proportions 
such  as  a  sculptor  would  choose  to  model ;  a  perfect  counte- 
nance and  the  grandest  air  and  mien  ever  vouchsafed  to  man ; 
all  these  advantages  enhanced  by  a  natural  grace  which  envel- 
oped all  his  actions  with  a  singular  charm  which  has  never 

^  Psalm  Ixxxii.  6,  7. 


France  binder  Louis  XIV  9 

perhaps  been  equaled.  He  was  as  dignified  and  majestic  in 
his  dressing  gown  as  when  dressed  in  robes  of  state,  or  on 
horseback  at  the  head  of  his  troops. 

He  excelled  in  all  sorts  of  exercise  and  liked  to  have  every 
facility  for  it.  No  fatigue  nor  stress  of  weather  made  any 
impression  on  that  heroic  figure  and  bearing  ;  drenched  with 
rain  or  snow,  pierced  with  cold,  bathed  in  sweat  or  covered 
with  dust,  he  was  always  the  same.  I  have  often  observed  with 
admiration  that  except  in  the  most  extreme  and  exceptional 
weather  nothing  prevented  his  spending  considerable  time  out 
of  doors  every  day. 

A  voice  whose  tones  corresponded  with  the  rest  of  his 
person  ;  the  ability  to  speak  well  and  to  listen  with  quick  com- 
prehension ;  much  reserve  of  manner  adjusted  with  exactness 
to  the  quality  of  different  persons ;  a  courtesy  always  grave, 
always  dignified,  always  distinguished,  and  suited  to  the  age, 
rank,  and  sex  of  each  individual,  and,  for  the  ladies,  always  an 
air  of  natural  gallantry.  So  much  for  his  exterior,  which  has 
never  been  equaled  nor  even  approached. 

In  whatever  did  not  concern  what  he  believed  to  be  his 
rightful  authority  and  prerogative,  he  showed  a  natural  kind- 
ness of  heart  and  a  sense  of  justice  which  made  one  regret  the 
education,  the  flatteries,  the  artifice  which  resulted  in  prevent- 
ing him  from  being  his  real  self  except  on  the  rare  occasions 
when  he  gave  way  to  some  natural  impulse  and  showed  that 
—  prerogative  aside,  which  choked  and  stifled  everything  — 
he  loved  truth,  justice,  order,  reason,  —  that  he  loved  even  to 
let  himself  be  vanquished. 

Nothing  could  be  regulated  with  greater  exactitude  than  How  Louis 
were  his  days  and  hours.  In  spite  of  all  his  variety  of  palaces,  ^P^^^*  ^^^  ^'^y 
business,  and  amusements,  with  an  almanac  and  a  watch  one 
might  tell,  three  hundred  leagues  away,  exactly  what  he  was 
doing.  .  .  .  Except  at  Marly,  any  man  could  have  an  oppor- 
tunity to  speak  to  him  five  or  six  times  during  the  day ;  he 
listened,  and  almost  always  replied,  "I  will  see,"  in  order  not 
to  accord  or  decide  anything  lightly.  Never  a  reply  or  a  speech 
that  would  give  pain  ;  patient  to  the  last  degree  in  business 
and  in  matters  of  personal  service ;  completely  master  of  his 


lo  Readings  in  Alodern  European  History 

face,  manner,  and  bearing,  he  never  gave  way  to  impatience  or 
anger.  If  he  administered  reproof,  it  was  rarely,  in  few  words, 
and  never  hastily.  He  did  not  lose  control  of  himself  ten 
times  in  his  whole  life,  and  then  only  with  inferior  persons, 
and  not  more  than  four  or  five  times  seriously. 

Now  for  Saint-Simon's  reverse  of  the  picture  : 

Outrageous       Louis  XIV' s  vanity  w^as  without  limit  or  restraint ;  it  colored 
vanity  of      everything^  and  convinced  him  that  no  one  even  approached 

the  king        ,.''..,.  ,  .         ,  ,  .  .  ^ 

hrni  m  military  talents,  m  plans  and  enterprises,  m  govern- 
ment. Hence  those  pictures  and  inscriptions  in  the  gallery  at 
Versailles  which  disgust  every  foreigner  ;  those  opera  prologues 
that  he  himself  tried  to  sing ;  that  flood  of  prose  and  verse  in 
his  praise  for  which  his  appetite  was  insatiable ;  those  dedica- 
tions of  statues  copied  from  pagan  sculpture,  and  the  insipid 
and  sickening  compliments  that  were  continually  offered  to 
him  in  person  and  which  he  swallowed  with  unfailing  relish  ; 
hence  his  distaste  for  all  merit,  intelligence,  education,  and, 
most  of  all,  for  all  independence  of  character  and  sentiment  in 
others ;  his  mistakes  of  judgment  in  matters  of  importance ; 
his  familiarity  and  favor  reserved  entirely  for  those  to  whom 
he  felt  himself  superior  in  acquirements  and  ability ;  and,  above 
everything  else,  a  jealousy  of  his  own  authority  w^hich  deter- 
mined and  took  precedence  of  every  other  sort  of  justice, 
reason,  and  consideration  whatever. 

In  167 1,  when  Louis  XIV  decided  upon  war  with  Hol- 
land, he  honored  his  commander,  the  prince  of  Conde, 
by  a  visit  to  him  at  Chantilly,  where  a  grand  fete  was 
given  in  the  forest,  for  which  elaborate  preparations 
were  made  by  Vatel,  the  prince  of  cooks.  The  following 
spirited  account  of  the  occasion  and  of  the  cook's  sad 
end  is  from  a  letter  of  Madame  de  Sevigne's,  whose 
charming  correspondence  with  her  daughter  and  friends 
constitutes  an  important  source  for  the  period  and  for 
the  life  at  Louis'  court. 


France  7inde7-  Louis  XIV  II 

It  is  Sunday,  the  26th  of  April;   this  letter  will  not  go  till  5.  How 

Wednesday.    It  is  not  really  a  letter,  but  an  account,  which  ^°"^s  ^°<l 

Moreuil  has  just  given  me  for  your  benefit,  of  what  happened  wJre°enter- 

at  Chantilly  concerning  Vatel.    I  wrote  you  on  Friday  that  he  tained  by 

had  stabbed  himself ;  here  is  the  story  in  detail.  the  pnnce 

rr.,  1        1  11     •        •  ,       .  ,     .  of  Cond6  at 

Ihe  promenade,  the  collation  m  a  spot  carpeted  with  jon-  chantilly 

quils, — all  was  going  to  perfection.  Supper  came;  the  roast  (1671) 
failed  at  one  or  two  tables  on  account  of  a  number  of  unex- 
pected guests.  This  upset  Vatel.  He  said  several  times,  "  My 
honor  is  lost ;  this  is  a  humiliation  that  I  cannot  endure."  To 
Gourville  he  said,  ''  My  head  is  swimming ;  I  have  not  slept 
for  twelve  nights  ;  help  me  to  give  my  orders."  Gourville  con- 
soled him  as  best  he  could,  but  the  roast  which  had  failed,  not 
at  the  king's,  but  at  the  twenty-fifth  table,  haunted  his  mind. 
Gourville  told  Monsieur  le  Prince  about  it,  and  Monsieur  le 
Prince  went  up  to  Vatel  in  his  own  room  and  said  to  him, 
"  Vatel,  all  goes  well ;  there  never  was  anything  so  beautiful  as 
the  king's  supper."  He  answered  :  ''  Monseigneur,  your  good- 
ness overwhelms  me.  I  know  that  the  roast  failed  at  two  tables." 
"  Nothing  of  the  sort,"  said  Monsieur  le  Prince.  "  Do  not  dis- 
turb yourself,  —  all  is  well." 

Midnight  comes.  The  fireworks  do  not  succeed  on  account 
of  a  cloud  that  overspreads  them  (they  cost  sixteen  thousand 
francs).  At  four  o'clock  in  the  morning  Vatel  is  wandering 
about  all  over  the  place.  Everything  is  asleep.  He  meets  a 
small  purveyor  with  two  loads  of  fish  and  asks  him,  "  Is  this 
all  ?  "  "  Yes,  sir."  The  man  did  not  know  that  Vatel  had  sent 
to  all  the  seaport  towns  in  France.  Vatel  waits  some  time,  but 
the  other  purveyors  do  not  arrive ;  he  gets  excited;  he  thinks 
that  there  w^ill  be  no  more  fish.  He  finds  Gourville  and  says 
to  him,  "  Sir,  I  shall  not  be  able  to  survive  this  disgrace." 
Gourville  only  laughs  at  him.  Then  Vatel  goes  up  to  his  own 
room,  puts  his  sword  against  the  door,  and  runs  it  through  his 
heart,  but  only  at  the  third  thrust,  for  he  gave  himself  two 
wounds  which  were  not  mortal.    He  falls  dead. 

Meanwhile  the  fish  is  coming  in  from  every  side,  and  people 
are  seeking  for  Vatel  to  distribute  it.  They  go  to  his  room, 
they  knock,  they  burst  open  the  door,  they  find   him  lying 


12  Readrngs  in  Moder?i  Eiiropea7i  History 

bathed  in  his  blood.  They  send  for  Monsieur  le  Prince,  who 
is  in  utter  despair.  Monsieur  le  Due  bursts  into  tears ;  it  was 
upon  Vatel  that  his  whole  journey  to  Burgundy  depended. 
Monsieur  le  Prince  informed  the  king,  very  sadly ;  they  agreed 
that  it  all  came  from  Vatel' s  having  his  own  code  of  honor, 
and  they  praised  his  courage  highly  even  while  they  blamed 
him.  The  king  said  that  for  five  years  he  had  delayed  his 
coming  because  he  knew  the  extreme  trouble  his  visit  would 
cause.  He  said  to  Monsieur  le  Prince  that  he  ought  to  have 
but  two  tables  and  not  burden  himself  with  the  responsibility 
for  everybody,  and  that  he  would  not  permit  Monsieur  le  Prince 
to  do  so  again ;  but  it  was  too  late  for  poor  Vatel. 

Gourville,  however,  tried  to  repair  the  loss  of  Vatel,  and 
did  repair  it.  The  dinner  was  excellent ;  so  was  the  luncheon. 
They  supped,  they  walked,  they  played,  they  hunted.  The 
scent  of  jonquils  was  everywhere;  it  was  all  enchanting. 

Sectio7i  J,    Reforms  of  Colbert  {1661-1683) 

The  finances  of  France  were  in  an  almost  chronic 
state  of  disorder.  It  was  financial  difficulties  which  were 
finally  to  prove  the  immediate  cause  of  the  great  French 
Revolution  in  1789.  The  picture  which  Colbert  gives 
of  the  situation  before  he  became  minister  is,  on  the 
whole,  a  fair  account  of  the  conditions  which  prevailed 
during  the  succeeding  century  and  which  we  find  on  the 
eve  of  the  French  Revolution. 

6.  Colbert's       As  we  have  had  only  examples  of  want  and  necessity  in  our 

account  of     finances  since  the  death  of  Henry  IV,  it  will  be  well  to  de- 
the  financial  ....  ,  ,         r  1  -1 

disorders       termme  how  it  has  come  about  that  for  so  long  a  time  there 

has  never  been  an  ample  revenue,  not  even  a  tolerably  satisfac- 
tory income,  —  anything  else  than  dearth  and  destitution,  any 
approximation  of  equality  between  output  and  revenue.  .  .  . 
During  the  twenty  years  immediately  following  the  death 
of  Henry  IV,  the  superintendents  of  the  finances  either 
gorged  themselves  with  wealth, — all  the  other  financial  officials 


France  under  Louis  XIV  13 

following  their  example,  —  or,  if  they  were  upright  men,  they 
did  not  have  sufficient  penetration  to  perceive  the  abuses, 
malfeasance,  thefts,  and  waste  which  went  on  under  cover  of 
their  authority,  and  even  under  their  eyes,  so  that  the  State 
was  always  in  need.  It  even  happened  that  the  incompetency 
of  the  superintendents  was  commonly  more  prejudicial  to  the 
State  and  the  people  than  their  personal  thefts,  seeing  that 
there  never  was  a  time  when  the  superintendents  appeared 
to  be  more  honest  than  from  1616  to  1630.  .  .  . 

But  since  the  expiration  of  these  twenty  years  the  change 
in  the  character  of  the  persons  chosen  to  fill  this  post  has  not 
altered  the  fate  of  the  State ;  on  the  contrary,  the  most  perni- 
cious maxims  took  root  in  their  minds  and  controlled  their 
conduct  and,  in  the  course  of  time,  assumed  such  strength  that 
even  the  most  able  and  enlightened  persons  connected  with  the 
government  thought  that  it  would  be  more  dangerous  to  try  a 
new  policy  than  to  submit  to  the  existing  evils. 

It  is  not  astonishing  that  superintendents  of  finance  regu- 
lated their  conduct  by  these  maxims,  since  they  found  in  them 
two  considerable  advantages  :  the  first  was  that  in  this  confu- 
sion they  enjoyed  plenty  of  opportunity  to  enrich  themselves 
and  to  make  important  gifts  to  their  relatives  and  friends  and 
to  all  the  persons  of  the  court  whose  good  offices  they  had 
need  of  in  order  to  maintain  themselves  in  all  the  disorder; 
and  the  second,  that  they  were  persuaded  that  this  pohcy  ren- 
dered their  services  necessary  and  that  no  resolution  to  remove 
them  could  be  considered. 

A  letter  addressed  by  Louis  XIV  to  the  town  officers  7.  commer- 

and  people  of  Marseilles  in  1664,  shortly  after  Colbert  co1bertl^°^ 

had  become  the  financial  head  of  the  realm,  clearly  shows  shown  in  a 

the  active  means  which  the  new  minister  proposed  to  theldng's 

take  to  promote  the  material  welfare  of  France.  (August  26, 

^  1664) 

Very  dear  and  well  beloved : 

Considering  how  advantageous  it  would  be  to  this  realm  to 

reestablish  its  foreign  and  domestic  commerce,  .  .  .  we  have 

resolved  to  create  a  council  particularly  devoted  to  commerce, 


14  Readings  in  Modern  Etiropean  History 

to  be  held  every  fortnight  in  our  presence,  in  which  all  the 
interests  of  merchants  and  the  means  conducive  to  the  revival 
of  commerce  shall  be  considered  and  determined  upon,  as  well 
as  all  that  which  concerns  manufactures. 

We  also  inform  you  that  we  are  setting  apart,  among  the  ex- 
penses of  our  State,  a  million  livres  each  year  for  the  encour- 
agement of  manufactures  and  the  increase  of  navigation,  to 
say  nothing  of  the  considerable  sums  which  we  cause  to  be 
raised  to  supply  the  companies  of  the  East  and  West  Indies ; 

That  we  are  working  constantly  to  abolish  all  the  tolls  which 
are  collected  on  the  navigable  rivers ; 

That  there  has  already  been  expended  more  than  a  million 
livres  for  the  repair  of  the  public  highways,  to  which  we  shall 
also  devote  our  constant  attention ; 

That  we  will  assist  by  money  from  our  royal  treasury  all 
those  who  wish  to  reestablish  old  manufactures  or  to  undertake 
new  ones ;   .  .  . 

That  all  the  merchants  and  traders  by  sea  who  purchase 
vessels,  or  who  build  new  ones,  for  traffic  or  commerce  shall 
receive  from  us  subsidies  for  each  ton  of  merchandise  which 
they  export  or  import  on  the  said  voyages. 

We  desire,  in  this  present  letter,  not  only  to  inform  you 
concerning  all  these  things,  but  to  require  you,  as  soon  as  you 
have  received  it,  to  cause  to  be  assembled  all  the  merchants 
and  traders  of  your  town  of  Marseilles,  and  explain  to  them 
very  particularly  our  intentions  in  all  matters  mentioned  above, 
in  order  that,  being  informed  of  the  favorable  treatment  which 
we  desire  to  give  them,  they  may  be  the  more  desirous  of 
applying  themselves  to  commerce.  Let  them  understand  that 
for  everything  that  concerns  the  welfare  and  advantage  of  the 
same  they  are  to  address  themselves  to  Sieur  Colbert.  .  .  . 


CHAPTER   II 

EUROPE  AND  LOUIS  XIV 

Sectio7i  ^.    Louis  XI V's  Attempt  to  aimex  the 
Spanish  Netherlaiids  [i66y-i668) 

Louis  XIV  had  his  lawyers  draw  up  a  formal  ''Treatise 
on  the  Rights  of  the  most  Christian  Queen  [his  wife]  to 
various  States  of  the  Spanish  Monarchy."  This  he  dis- 
patched in  1667  not  only  to  the  Spanish  government 
but  to  all  the  chief  European  powers.  It  is  a  very 
unctious  document  in  which  he  seeks  to  prove  by  elab- 
orate reasoning  that  the  renunciation  of  all  claims  to 
the  Spanish  possessions,  which  his  queen  had  made 
upon  marrying  him,  is  null  and  void,  and  that  the 
Spanish  Netherlands  and  Franche  Comte  belong  legally 
to  him  as  her  husband.  The  spirit  of  the  document 
appears  in  the  opening  passages  : 

The  most  Christian  king  in   endeavoring  to  maintain  the  8.  The  pref- 

rights  of  the  queen,  his  spouse,  is  not  actuated  by  the  ambition  f,^£,*°  J!^® 

to  gain  new  territories  or  the  desire  to  win  glory  by  arms.    If  on  the  Rights 

the  rights  of  inheritance  and  the  provisions  of  the  local  laws  of  the  most 

did  not  entitle  this  illustrious  princess  to  the  dominions  he  ^hnstian 

^  (^ueen  to 

claims  for  her,  no  advantage  or  pohtical  pretext  could  tempt  the  various 

him  to  be  guilty  of  the  least  iniustice  ;  for  however  he  may  States  of  the 

,.,  .  .  .         ,.,  .J  ,      Spanish  Mon- 

esteem  the  rich  provmces  m  question,  his  honor  is  dearer  to  archy"(i667) 

him,  and  he  would  sacrifice  the  title  of  king  sooner  than  that 
of  a  just  man.  He  well  knows  that  a  wrongful  conquest  can- 
not increase  the  limits  of  a  state  without  at  the  same  time 
diminishing  the  good  fame  of  its  sovereign.  .  .  . 

15 


1 6  Readings  in  Modern  European  History 

It  is  in  this  spirit  —  so  worthy  of  the  piety  of  the  eldest 
son  of  the  Church  —  that,  before  making  public  his  claim,  the 
king  desired  to  obtain  the  opinion  of  all  the  famous  universi- 
ties of  Europe ;  and  when  he  discovered  that  all  legal  learning 
unreservedly  supported  his  cause,  he  was  justified  in  conclud- 
ing that  such  universal  agreement  rendered  it  obligatory  upon 
him  to  defend  his  legitimate  claims.  Indeed,  it  would  have 
been  shameful  in  a  king  to  permit  all  the  rights  derived  from 
blood  relationship  and  the  laws  of  inheritance  to  be  violated 
in  his  own  person,  and  in  that  of  his  wife  and  son.  And  inas- 
much as  he  did  not  lack  the  power  to  maintain  his  right,  nor 
the  family  affection  and  courage  to  enforce  it,  his  neglect  to 
do  so  could  not  have  failed  to  give  rise  to  the  belief  that  he 
had  fallen  into  a  species  of  lethargy  fatal  to  the  good  of  his 
dominions  and  shameful  to  his  glory. 

As  king  he  was  therefore  obliged  to  prevent  this  injustice ; 
as  a  husband,  to  oppose  this  usurpation  ;  as  a  father,  to  assure 
this  patrimony  to  his  son.  There  was  no  question  of  conquer- 
ing other  peoples,  but  of  retaining  them.  It  is  not  a  matter  of 
subjugating  territories  by  arms  but  of  asserting  the  rights  of 
blood  and  of  nature  over  peoples  in  virtue  of  their  own  laws. 
He  would  not  force  open  the  gates,  but,  like  the  beneficent 
sun,  he  would  permit  the  rays  of  his  love  to  flood  country  and 
town,  even  to  the  very  houses  of  individuals,  spreading  abroad 
the  soft  influences  of  abundance  and  peace. 

Those  who  will  recollect  how  he  generously  laid  down  his 
arms  when  he  was  at  the  very  height  of  his  victories,  solely  on 
account  of  his  affectionate  solicitude  for  the  peace  of  Christen- 
dom, cannot  doubt  that  it  will  prove  very  distasteful  to  him  to 
resume  them  once  more  and  behold  the  flame  of  war  which  he 
has  just  extinguished  ^  again  flaming  up.  But  God  appointed 
him  king  to  defend  the  good  of  his  people,  and  it  would  be 
most  unjust  to  neglect  the  rights  of  his  own  family  and  refuse 
them  the  protection  he  accords  to  others. 

To  what  tribunal  indeed  can  he  appeal  against  subjects  who 
should  prove  themselves  oblivious  to  their  own  laws,  insensible 
to  the  love  of  their  sovereign,  and  rebellious  to  the  decrees  of 

1  By  the  Treaty  of   Pyrenees,  1659. 


Europe  a7td  Loins  XIV  17 

Nature  and  of  Providence,  who  distributes  scepters  and 
crowns?  Heaven  having  estabhshed  no  high  court  on  earth 
from  which  the  rulers  of  France  can  demand  justice,  the 
king  can  seek  that  in  his  own  heart  alone,  where  it  always 
reigns;  nor  can  he  seek  it  except  by  arms,  which  have 
never  yet  failed  to  assure  it.  But  he  trusts  that  the  fidelity 
of  his  former  people  will  cause  them  to  be  transported  with 
joy  when,  after  a  long  eclipse,  they  once  more  behold  the 
light  of  his  love. 

These  motives,  dictated  by  affection  and  good  will  for  his 
people,  have  alone  suggested  to  his  most  Christian  majesty  the 
publication  of  this  treatise.  For  although  he  owes  no  account 
of  his  actions  to  any  one  except  God,  the  ignorance  of  his 
rights  might  nevertheless  foster  erroneous  impressions  as  to 
their  true  character ;  he  desires,  therefore,  to  make  clear  to 
the  public  the  justice  of  his  claims,  so  that  this  being  under- 
stood, he  shall  first  conquer  the  mind,  when  his  love  will  not 
fail  to  complete  the  victory  won  by  reason. 

That  keen-sighted  English  diplomat,  Sir  William 
Temple,  already  quoted  above  (pp.  3  i"^.),  sums  up  briefly 
the  decline  of  Spain  and  its  weak  condition  when 
Louis  XIV  proposed  to  seize  the  Spanish  Netherlands 
in  the  name  of  his  queen. 

The  crown  of  Spain  was,  in  all  Philip  IPs  time,  looked  upon  9.  Sir  Wil- 
as  both  the  terror  and  defense  of  Christendom,  no  monarchy  1^*"^  o|i  the 
having  ever  grasped  at  so  great  an  empire  there,  and  at  the  spain 
same  time  pursued  an  open  war  against  so  great  a  power  as 
the  Turks.    This  greatness  was  grown  up  by  the  union  of  the 
house  of  Castile  and  Aragon,  of  that  of  Burgundy  and  the 
Netherlands,  with  that  of  Naples  and  Sicily ;  by  the  accession 
or  conquest  of  Portugal ;  by  that  of  the  Indies,  when  their  mines 
bled  fresh,  as  they  did  for  many  years  after  their  first  open- 
ing ;  by  the  number  of  brave  troops  and  leaders  which  were 
raised  and  made  by  the  various  and  continual  wars  of  Charles  V ; 
but  chiefly   by   the   uninterrupted   succession   of   three   great 
princes,  Ferdinand,  Charles,  and  Philip,  which  can  never  fail 


i8 


Readings  in  Modern  European  Histo7'y 


Causes  of  the 
decay  of 
Spain 


The  EngHsh 
threaten  the 
Spanish  con- 
trol of  the 
West  Indies 


of  raising  a  small  kingdom  to  a  great,  no  more  than  the  con- 
trary of  bringing  down  a  great  one  to  a  small. 

But  whoever  measures  the  crown  of  Spain  now  by  the  scale 
of  that  age  may  fancy  a  man  of  fourscore  by  a  picture  drawn 
of  him  at  thirty  :  'T  is  like  a  great  old  tree,  which  has  lost  its 
branches  and  leaves,  et  triinco  non  frondibtis  efficit  umbram. 
Though  no  man  knows  whether  out  of  this  old  root  a  sucker 
may  not  spring,  that  with  a  little  shelter  at  first,  and  good 
seasons,  may  in  time  prove  a  mighty  tree ;  for  there  seems 
still  to  remain  strength  and  sap  in  the  root  to  furnish  a  fair 
growth,  though  not  in  proportion  to  the  first. 

These  decays  have  been  occasioned  by  so  long  a  war  with 
Holland  (supported  by  all  the  neighbors,  who  envied  or 
feared  the  greatness  of  Spain)  ;  by  the  exhausting  in  a  great 
degree  of  their  Indian  [i.e.  American]  mines ;  by  the  loss  of 
population  in  making  the  Indian  conquests  and  securing  all 
their  provinces  both  in  Italy  and  Flanders ;  but  most  of  all  by 
two  successions  of  unactive  princes,  and  the  want  of  any  great 
minister  to  repair  either  them  or  the  minority  of  this  king 
[i.e.  Charles  II],  in  which  they  ended. 

Unless  this  crown  outgrow  its  present  weakness  by  some 
great  spirit  rising  up  at  the  head  of  the  monarchy,  who  shall 
digest  their  counsels,  reform  the  vast  and  inordinate  profu- 
sions of  their  treasures  by  suppressing  all  unnecessary  pen- 
sions and  expenses,  and  restore  the  vigor  of  their  nation  by 
martial  designs  and  examples,  we  may  reckon  the  interest  of 
Spain  to  He  wholly  in  the  preservation  and  defense  of  Flanders 
from  France,  of  Sicily  from  the  Turks,  and  of  their  Indies 
from  us.  .  .   . 

Their  jealousy  of  their  Indies  has  been  much  nearer  them 
since  our  possession  of  Jamaica  ;  and  they  ache  at  heart  upon 
every  fit  which  the  desperate  sallies  of  our  privateers  there 
bring  upon  them.  But  they  hope  to  make  fair  weather  in 
those  seas  by  opening  to  us  some  advantages  of  trade  there, 
and  by  a  conjunction  of  interests  in  Europe,  which  they 
think  the  greatness  of  France  makes  as  necessary  to  us 
as  to  them. 


Europe  and  Louis  XIV  19 

Sectioji  5.   Lotiis  XI V  's  War  against  the  Dutch  {idy 2-1678) 

The  manner  in  which  France,  supported  by  England, 
attacked  the  Dutch  in  1672  and  the  way  in  which  Wil- 
liam of  Orange  was  raised  to  power  is  well  described  by 
Sir  William  Temple,  who  had  an  excellent  chance  to 
know  the  facts. 

No  clap  of  thunder  in  a  fair  frosty  day  could  more  astonish  10.  Sir  Wil- 

the  world  than  our  declaration  of  war  asjainst  Holland  in  1672.  liam  Temple 

rr^i  •    1  1  r  IT  1     •     o  n  1      ,  .     on  the  open- 

...  1  his  began  by  our  fallmg  upon  their  Smyrna  fleet ;  ^  this  ing  of  Louis 

attack  (although  it  failed)  was  followed  by  a  formal  declara-  XlV's  attack 
tion,  in  which  we  gave  reasons  for  our  quarrel,  while  the  French  ^^^1^^^^"^ 
contented  themselves  to  give  no  other  for  their  part  of  it  than 
only  the  glory  of  their  king.  The  Dutch  could  never  be  pos- 
sessed with  a  belief  that  we  were  in  earnest  till  the  blow  was 
given  ;  but  thought  our  unkindness  and  expostulations,  of  late, 
would  end  at  last  either  in  demands  of  money,  or  the  prince 
of  Orange's  restitution  to  the  authority  of  his  ancestors.  .  .  . 

The  princes  concerned  in  their  safety  could  not  believe, 
that  having  saved  Flanders  out  of  the  hands  of  France,  we 
would  suffer  Holland  to  fall  into  the  same  danger ;  and  my 
lord  Arlington  told  me  at  that  time  that  the  court  of  France 
did  not  believe  it  themselves  till  the  blow  was  struck  in  the 
attack  of  the  Smyrna  fleet ;  but  then  they  immediately  set  out 
their  declaration  and  began  their  invasion.  This  surprise  made 
way  for  their  prodigious  successes. 

The  Dutch  had  made  no  provision  for  their  defense  either 
at  home  or  abroad  ;  and  the  Empire,  Spain,  and  Sweden  stood 
at  a  gaze  upon  the  opening  of  the  war,  not  knowing  upon  what 
agreement  between  us  and  France  it  was  begun,  nor  how  far 
we  would  suffer  the  French  conquests  to  proceed.  Besides, 
the   animosities   of   the  parties   in   Holland,  long  suppressed 

1  In  March,  1672,  the  English,  without  any  warning,  attacked,  in  the 
Channel,  a  Dutch  fleet  of  sixty  merchant  vessels  and  seven  men-of-war 
returning  from  the  Levant,  but  only  succeeded  in  capturing  four  ships, 
much  to  their  chagrin. 


20 


Readings  in  Modern  European  History 


Demand  for 
the  restora- 
tion of  the 
Prince  of 
Orange 


Immediate 
success  of  the 
French  invad- 
ers 


Apprehension 
of  the  French 
that  the 
Dutch  might 
cut  the  dikes 


under  their  new  constitution  and  De  Witt's  ministry,  began  to 
flame  again  upon  this  misfortune  of  their  State. 

The  Prince's  friends  talked  loudly  and  boldly,  that  there 
was  no  way  to  satisfy  England  but  restoring  the  Prince ;  and 
that  the  baseness  and  cowardice  of  their  troops  were  the  effects 
of  turning  out  all  officers  of  worth  and  bravery  for  their  in- 
clinations to  the  Prince,  and  bringing  mean  fellows  in  for  no 
other  desert  than  their  declared  enmity  to  the  House  of  Orange. 

Upon  this  all  men  expected  a  sudden  change ;  the  Estates 
General  were  in  disorder,  and  irresolute  what  to  do ;  the 
troops  were  without  a  general,  and,  which  is  worse,  without 
heart ;  and  though  De  Ruiter,  by  admirable  conduct,  kept  the 
infection  of  these  evils  out'  of  his  fleet,  which  was  our  part  to 
deal  with,  yet  faction,  distrust,  sedition,  and  distraction  made 
such  entrances  upon  the  Estates  and  the  army,  when  the  French 
troops  first  invaded  them,  that  of  all  the  towns  and  fortresses 
on  the  German  side  (held  impregnable  in  all  their  former  wars) 
not  one  besides  Maestricht  made  any  show  of  resistance,  and 
the  French  became  immediately  masters  of  all  the  inland  parts 
of  the  provinces,  in  as  little  time  as  travelers  usually  employ 
to  see  and  consider  them.  Maestricht  was  taken  after  a  short 
siege,  as  well  as  Schenkenschanz  [near  Nimwegen],  by  the  help 
of  an  extreme  dry  season,  that  made  rivers  fordable  where  they 
had  never  been  esteemed  so  before. 

The  king  of  France  marched  as  far  as  Utrecht,  where  he 
fixed  his  camp  and  his  court,  and  from  thence  began  to  con- 
sider of  the  ways  how  to  possess  himself  of  the  rest  of  the  coun- 
try, which  was  defended  only  by  its  situation  upon  flat  lands, 
which,  as  they  had,  by  infinite  labor  in  canals  and  dikes,  been 
either  gained  or  preserved  from  inundations,  so  they  were  sub- 
ject to  them  upon  opening  the  sluices,  whenever  the  Dutch 
found  no  other  way  of  saving  their  country  but  by  losing  it. 

This,  at  least,  was  generally  believed  in  the  French  camp 
and  court,  and,  as  I  have  heard,  was  the  preservation  of  the 
State  ;  for  that  king,  unwilling  to  venture  the  honor  and  advan- 
tage of  such  conquests  as  he  had  made  that  summer,  upon  the 
hazards"  of  a  new  sort  of  war  with  a  merciless  element,  where 
neither  conduct  nor  courage  were  of  use,  resolved  to  leave  the 


Europe  and  Louis  XIV  21 

rest  to  negotiations  of  peace  with  the  Estates  General, "^  upon 
the  advantage  of  the  terms  he  stood  in,  and  the  small  distance 
between  them ;  or,  if  these  should  not  succeed,  then  he  trusted 
to  the  frosts  of  the  following  winter,  which  seldom  fail  in  that 
country  to  make  all  passable  and  safe  for  troops  and  carriages 
themselves,  that  in  summer  would  be  impassable,  either  from 
the  w^aters  or  the  depth  of  soil. 

In  the  meantime,  the  State  and  the  government  of  Holland  How  John  De 
took  a  new  form,  and  with  it  a  new  heart.    Monsieur  De  Witt  Witt  (the 
and  his  brother  had  been  massacred  by  the  sudden  fury  of  the  sionary'of 
people  at  The  Hague.  .  .  .    [The  brother]  had  been  accused  Holland  since 
of  a  design  upon  the  Prince's^  life,  and  of  endeavoring  by  ^urderSiat 
money  to  engage  one  of  his  highness's  domestics  in  that  at-  The  Hague 
tempt;  but  no  other  witness  appearing,  he  was  sentenced  only  (^^72) 
to  be  banished ;   at  which  the  people  showed  great  dissatisfac- 
tion, being  possessed  with  an  opinion  of  his  guilt. 

The  morning  he  w^as  to  come  out  of  prison.  Monsieur  De 
Witt  (against  the  opinion  of  his  friends)  would  needs  go  him- 
seK  to  bring  him  out  with  more  honor,  and  carry  him  out  of 
town  ;  and  to  that  purpose  w^ent  with  his  coach  and  four  horses 
to  the  court.  This,  being  not  usual  to  this  minister,  made  the 
people  take  more  notice  of  it,  and  gather  together  tumultu- 
ously,  first  in  the  streets  where  he  passed,  and  then  about  the 
court  where  the  prisoner  was  kept.  Some  of  the  trained  bands 
of  The  Hague  that  were  upon  the  guard  mingled  among  them, 
and  began  to  rail  aloud  against  the  judgment  of  the  court, 
the  crime  of  one  brother,  and  the  insolence  of  the  other,  who 
pretended  (as  they  said)  to  carry  him  away  in  triumph. 

In  the  midst  of  this  heat  and  passion,  raised  by  this  kind  of 
discourses  among  the  populace,  the  two  brothers  came  out ; 
some  of  the  trained  bands  stopped  them,  began  to  treat  them 
at  first  with  ill  language,  and  from  words  fell  to  blows  ;  upon 
which  Monsieur  De  Witt,  foreseeing  how  the  tragedy  would 
end,  took  his  brother  by  the  hand,  and  was  at  the  same  time 
knocked  down  by  the  butt  end  of  a  musket.  They  were  both 
presently  laid  dead  upon  the  place,  then  dragged  about  the 
town  by  the  fury  of  the  people,  and  torn   in   pieces.    Thus 

1  I.e.  William  of  Orange 


22 


Readings  ifi  Modern  European  History 


Restoration 
of  the  House 
of  Orange  in 
the  person  of 
William  of 
Orange 


ended  one  of  the  greatest  lives  of  any  subject  in  our  age,  about 
the  forty-seventh  year  of  his  own  ;  after  having  served,  or  rather 
administered,  that  State,  as  Pensioner  of  Holland,  for  about 
eighteen  years,  with  great  honor  to  his  country  and  himself. 

After  the  death  of  these  brothers,  the  provinces  and  towns 
ran  with  unanimous  voices  into  public  demands  of  the  Prince's 
being  restored  to  the  authority  of  his  ancestors.  The  Estates 
General  had,  in  the  beginning  of  the  year,  declared  him  cap- 
tain general  and  admiral  of  their  forces,  which  was  no  more 
than  De  Witt  had  always  professed  was  designed  for  him  when 
he  should  be  of  age  ;  but  this  was  found  neither  to  have  satis- 
fied England  nor  the  Prince's  party  at  home  ;  and  therefore 
all  the  members  of  the  State  agreed  in  those  acts  that  were 
thought  necessary  to  a  full  restitution  of  his  highness,  now  at 
the  age  of  twenty-one  years,  to  the  office  and  power  of  Stadt- 
holder,  with  all  advantages,  and  even  some  more  than  those 
which  had  been  exercised  by  his  ancestors. 


Section  6.    Lonis  XIV' s  Plan  of  encroaching  by 
"  Reunio7is''  tip07i  the  Holy  Roman  Empire 

Sir  William  Temple  gives  us  a  good  idea  of  the  lack 
of  unity  in  the  Holy  Roman  Empire  of  his  day.  It  was 
threatened  on  the  east  by  the  Turks  and  on  the  west  by 
the  encroachments  of  Louis  XIV,  and  yet  each  German 
prince  went  his  own  way  according  to  his  own  particular 
interests.  The  Emperor  himself,  the  elector  of  Saxony, 
and  a  few  others  perhaps  believed  it  to  be  their  duty  to 
defend  the  Empire,  but  it  was  always  easy  for  the  French 
king  to  win  over  most  of  the  rulers  on  the  Rhine. 

[The  Emperor  himself  is  firm  in  his  stand  against  the  French 

king]  because  he  has  nothing  to  fear  so  much  as  the  power 

and  ambition  of  France  in  regard  of  their  common  pretensions 

the  chief  Ger-  to  Spain,  after  the  young  king's  death,  and  a  jealousy  of  the 

man  princes    g^ipire  itself  after  a  further  course  of  success  ;  but  he  will  be 

faint  in  any  execution  of  such  a  counsel  —  unless  spirited  by  the 


II.  Temple 
describes  the 
conflicting 
interests  of 


Europe  and  Louis  XIV  23 

unanimous  decrees  of  a  general  diet  [of  the  Empire]  —  from 
his  own  disposition,  which  is  thought  rather  generous  and  just, 
than  ambitious  and  enterprising;  from  the  influence  of  the  Jes- 
uits in  that  court,  who  are  observed  to  grow  generally  French, 
as  they  were  Spanish  in  the  last  age ;  from  the  fear  of  the 
Turks,  who  are  still  like  a  cloud  that  hangs  over  his  head  ;  and 
from  a  jealousy  of  Sweden's  joining  absolutely  with  France, 
which  might  share  a  great  part  of  the  Empire  between  them. 

The  elector  of  Saxony  would  fall  entirely  into  the  interests 
of  the  Emperor  in  this  point,  for,  as  a  prince  that  is  a  true 
German,  he  loves  the  liberty  of  the  Empire,  foresees  that  if  it 
should  fall  into  the  French  hands  all  the  princes  would  grow 
little  companions  to  what  they  now  are,  or  return  to  be  the 
several  officers  of  the  Emperor's  court,  as  they  were  in  the 
unlimited  greatness  of  some  ancient  emperors.  Besides,  his 
distance  from  France,  though  it  does  not  instruct  him  to  think 
wiser  than  other  princes,  yet  it  helps  him  to  speak  boldlier 
what  he  thinks  upon  these  conjunctures. 

The  elector  of  Brandenburgh  and  landgrave  of  Hesse,  and, 
at  least,  two  of  the  dukes  of  Lunenburgh,  are,  in  their  disposi- 
tions and  judgments,  upon  the  same  interests.  .  .  . 

The  electors  of  Mentz  and  Triers  have  the  same  inclina- 
tions ;  but,  lying  at  the  mercy  of  France,  in  so  near  and  so 
imperious  a  neighborhood,  they  will  take  no  measures  wherein 
they  may  not  see  their  own  safety  provided  for,  as  well  as  that 
of  the  Empire ;  wherein  no  prince  has  greater  reputation  of 
prudence  and  caution  than  the  bishop  of  Mentz. 

The  elector  Palatine,  either  upon  remainders  of  the  ancient 
leagues  with  France,  or  quarrels  with  the  House  of  Austria,  has 
been  thought  inclined  to  the  French ;  but  as  a  wise  prince  will 
be  found  generally  in  the  true  interests  of  the  Empire,  as  far 
as  the  seat  of  his  country  will  give  him  leave,  which  in  a  war 
will  be  so  much  exposed. 

The  elector  of  Bavaria  has  been  esteemed  wholly  in  the 
French  interests  since  the  Treaty  of  Munster;  but,  by  what 
ties  or  motives,  has  not  fallen  under  my  observation.  .  .  . 

The  elector  of  Cologne  is  a  person  of  much  natural  goodness 
and  candor,  but  of  age  and  infirmities,  and  whom  devotion 


24  Readings  in  Modeni  European  History 

and  chemistry  have  shared  between  them,  and,  in  a  manner, 
removed  from  the  affairs  of  his  state  —  which  have  been  long 
and  entirely  devolved  upon  the  bishop  of  Strassburgh,  a  man 
busy,  and  always  in  motion  or  intrigue.  Nevertheless,  whether 
upon  future  ambition  or  present  advantages,  he  is  esteemed  to 
be  perfectly  in  the  French  interests  ;  so  that  whatever  use  can 
be  made  by  France  of  that  elector's  name  or  country,  may  be 
reckoned  upon  as  wholly  at  the  devotion  of  that  crown. 

The  duke  of  Nieuburgh  is,  in  his  person  and  mien,  rather 
like  an  Italian  than  a  German ;  and  should  be  so  in  his  dispo- 
sition, by  playing  the  game  of  an  Italian  prince ;  in  declaring 
no  partialities,  provoking  no  enemies,  and  living  more  retired 
than  the  other  princes  of  his  country  :  having  never  showed 
any  ambition  but  for  the  crown  of  Poland,  which  design  helped 
to  inspire  him  with  great  compliance  towards  all  his  neighbors, 
and  other  princes,  who  were  able  to  do  him  good  or  ill  offices  in 
that  point.  But  the  failing  of  it  was  thought  to  have  something 
disobliged  him  from  France  (upon  whose  assistance  he  reckoned) 
and  has  sunk  him  in  a  debt  from  which  he  will  hardly  recover. 

The  bishop  of  Munster  is  made  only  considerable  by  his 
situation,  which  lies,  the  fittest  of  all  others,  to  invade  Hol- 
land ;  and  by  his  own  dispositions,  which  are  unquiet,  and  ambi- 
tious to  raise  a  name  in  the  world.  Then  an  old  implacable 
hatred  to  the  Dutch,  due  to  their  intelligence  with  his  chief 
town  of  Munster ;  their  usurpation  (as  he  pretends)  of  Borkloe, 
and  some  other  small  places  in  his  country ;  their  protection 
of  the  countess  of  Benthem  ;  and  the  hopes  of  sharing  Overyssel 
or  Friesland,  if  ever  their  spoils  come  to  be  divided,  —  these 
serve  to  make  him  a  certain  friend  to  what  prince  soever  is 
enemy  to  them,  and  will  furnish  him  with  men  or  money  enough 
to  appear  in  the  head  of  an  army  against  them.  .  .   . 

The  activity  of  Louis  XIV 's  courts  in  the  matter  of 
"  reunions "  is  shown  by  the  list  of  annexations  to 
France  after  the  Treaty  of  Nimwegen. 


Europe  and  Louis  XIV  25 


Province  of  Luxemburg 
France  possessed  itself  of  the  capital  of  that  name,  and  five  12.  A  list 


of  the  "Re- 
unions " 


and  thirty  villages  and  hamlets,  named  provostships. 

As  also  the  provostship  of  Luxemburg,  consisting  of  three  made'bythe 

benches  of  justice,  viz.  Kundrigh,  or  Clemency,  Putlange,  and  Most  Chris- 
T^   , ,  •  tian  King  in 

Pettmgen.  the  Provinces 

Of  the  three  land  mayoralties,  which  are  Bettemburg,  Sant-  of  His  Catho- 
weiles,  and  Reckien  ;  and  of  three  mayoralties,  Steinsel,  Lingt-  }^c  Majesty- 
gen,  Schiteringen,  consisting  together  of  seventy-one  villages  countries 
and  hamlets. 

Of  the  castle  of  Bourge  and  the  seigniory  of  Rhadenmach- 
eren  with  twenty  villages  and  their  dependencies. 

Of  the  castle  and  seigniory  of  Kesperange  with  four  villages. 

Of  Ravil  and  its  dependencies,  consisting  of  seventeen 
villages. 

Of  the  castle  and  county  of  Russy,  which  contain  eleven 
villages. 

Of  the  castle  and  bench  of  justice  of  Putlange,  consisting  of 
fifteen  villages. 

Of  the  castle  of  the  seigniory  of  Preisch,  containing  two 
villages. 

Of  the  castle  of  Aigmont  with  its  two  boroughs  of  Givet  and 
hamlets  depending  thereon. 

Of  the  seigniory  of  Vilreux  Walrand. 

Of  the  territories  and  seigniories  of  the  county  of  Rocheford 
with  four  villages. 

Of  the  castle  and  provostship  of  Orchimont,  containing 
Vienne,  and  twenty  other  villages  and  ten  seigniories  within 
the  limits  thereof. 

Of  the  seigniories  of  Chasse  Pierre,  Riviere,  Fontenoylle, 
Sancta  Cecilia,  Lescheles,  Maniles,  Lugnon  le  Bortisse,  Ban 
d'Orio,  Marpan,  Dochamps,  Herbumont,  le  Bande  Batailles, 
Ban  de  Masson. 

Of  the  county  of  Montaign  with  thirteen  villages  and  ham- 
lets. 

Of  Chefilu  and  the  provostship  of  St.  Mard  with  sixteen 
villages. 


26  Readings  in  Modem  European  History 

Of  the  castle  and  seigniory  of  Latheur,  Montquinting,  la 
Vaux,  Gommery,  Bassail,  Rouette,  and  Villers  la  Loup. 

Of  the  town  and  county  of  Chiny  with  twenty-seven  villages, 
hamlets,  and  forges. 

Of  the  barony  of  Jamaigne  with  five  villages  and  hamlets. 

Of  the  seigniory  of  Neuchateau,  consisting  of  six  and  forty 
villages  and  hamlets. 

Of  the  borough,  franchise,  and  mayoralty  of  Rennich  with 
twenty-four  villages  and  hamlets. 

Of  the  bench  of  justice  of  Mackeren  le  Comte,  comprehend- 
ing the  town  and  thirty-four  villages  and  hamlets. 

Of  the  seigniory  of  Wasser  Billish. 

Of  the  provostship  of  Echternach,  containing  the  town  and 
thirty-three  villages  and  hamlets  distinguished  by  four  mayoral- 
ties, viz.  Osweiller,  Izzel,  Crenhen,  and  Bollendorf. 

Of  the  town  and  provostship  of  Biedburg,  consisting  of  the 
franchise  of  Dudeldorf  and  thirty-four  villages. 

Of  the  town  and  provostship  of  Dickrick,  which  comprehends 
a  town  and  six  and  twenty  villages  and  hamlets. 

Of  the  town  and  provostship  of  Arlon,  consisting  of  the  town 
and  a  hundred  and  twenty-nine  villages  and  hamlets,  making 
up  fifteen  bans  or  mayoralties  without  comprehending  the 
forges  and  furnaces. 

Of  the  seigniory  of  Pont  des  Oyes,  which  contains  two  vil- 
lages, hamlets  and  forges. 

Of  the  mayor  town  and  provostship  of  Bastoigne,  contain- 
ing the  town  and  an  hundred  and  forty-five  villages  and  ham- 
lets consisting  of  ten  mayoralties. 

Of  the  town,  mayoralty,  and  provostship  of  Marche,  com- 
prehending the  town  and  nineteen  villages  and  hamlets. 

Of  the  towns  and  provostship  of  Durbug,  which  consists  of 
the  town  and  seventy-six  villages  and  hamlets  divided  into 
four  courts  and  nineteen  seigniories. 

Of  the  town  of  La  Roche,  containing  the  castle,  town,  and 
one  and  fifty  villages  and  hamlets  divided  into  four  mayoral- 
ties.^ .  .  . 

1  The  complete  list  of  the  "  reunions  "  would  fill  ten  pages  more. 


Europe  and  Louis  XIV  27 

The  leading  men  of  Strassburg  thus  described  to 
the  Emperor  the  way  in  which  Louis  XIV's  repre- 
sentative, Montclair,  rudely  demanded  the  immediate 
surrender  of  their  city. 

.  .  .  Mr.  de  Montclair  informed  us  on  the  evening  of  the  13.  The 

28th,  that  he  desired  us  to  send  to  him  one  of  our  deputies  to  French  king 

r  T-r-    Tv/r         ^i    •     •        -r  t   •  i  •   i  dcmands  the 

learn  the  mtentions  of  His  Most  Christian  Majesty,  which  are  surrender  of 

that  the  Sovereign  Chamber  of  Reunion  at  Brisach  having  Strassburg 
adjudged  to  the  King  his  master  the  sovereignty  of  all  Alsace,  28^1681)  ^^ 
of  which  our  city  is  a  member,  he  wished  in  virtue  of  the  said 
decree  that  we  would  recognize  his  said  Majesty  as  our  sov- 
ereign lord,  receive  a  garrison,  and  thus  merit  his  protection, 
—  that  the  King  had  contemplated  this  step  all  the  more  seri- 
ously since  he  was  well  informed  that  your  Imperial  Majesty 
had  sought  for  some  time  every  means  to  secure  the  entry  of 
a  garrison  into  the  city.   .  .  . 

M.  the  baron  de  Montclair  gave  us  to  understand  at  the 
same  time,  that  if  we  should  accede  to  his  demands  graciously 
and  quickly,  we  could  depend  upon  the  preservation  of  our 
rights  and  privileges ;  but  that  if  we  should  obstinately  refuse, 
or  commit  the  slightest  act  of  hostility,  the  king  had  at  present 
enough  troops,  artillery,  and  other  necessary  things  to  force  us 
to  our  duty ;  and  that  as  the  Marquis  de  Louvois  was  to  arrive 
to-day,  he  desired  us  to  take  favorable  resolutions  promptly  in 
order  that  he  might  be  able  to  inform  him  of  them  on  his 
arrival,  which  was  to  be  followed  by  that  of  the  most  Christian 
King  within  six  days. 

As  we  feel  ourselves  too  weak  to  hold  out  against  so  great 
and  dreadful  a  power  as  that  of  His  Most  Christian  Majesty, 
and  moreover  as  we  do  not  see  how  we  can  be  aided  by  any 
relief  or  counsel  that  would  enable  us  to  resist  it,  we  have  no 
other  resource  but  to  place  ourselves  in  the  hands  of  God  and 
accept  the  conditions  which  His  Most  Christian  Majesty  shall 
see  fit  to  prescribe  for  us. 

Strassburg 
September  29,  1681 


28 


Readirigs  in  Modern  European  History 


Section  7.     TJie  English  Revolution  of  1688  and  the  War 
of  the  League  of  Augsburg  (idSS-idgy) 

The  Declaration  of  His  Highness,  WILLIAM  HENRY,  by 
the  Grace  of  God,  Prince  of  Orange,  etc.,  of  the  Reasons 
inducing  him  to  appear  in  A?'ms  in  the  Kingdom  of  Yi^Qi- 
\.k^Y),  for  preserving  of  the  Protestant  Religion,  and  for 
Resto7'i7ig  of  the  Laws  and  Liberties  of  England,  Scotland, 
and  Ireland 


14.  William 
of  Orange 
states  his 
reasons  for 
invading 
England 


Religion, 
laws,  and 
liberties  sub- 
verted 


I.  It  is  both  certain  and  evident  to  all  Men,  That  the  Publick 
Peace  and  happiness  of  any  State  or  Kingdom  cannot  be  pre- 
served where  the  Laws,  Liberties,  and  Customs  Established 
by  the  Lawful  Authority  in  it  are  openly  transgressed  and  an- 
nulled :  More  especially  where  the  Alteration  of  Religion  is 
endeavoured,  and  that  a  Religion,  which  is  contrary  to  Law,  is 
endeavoured  to  be  introduced :  Upon  which  those  who  are 
most  immediately  concerned  in  it  are  indispensably  bound 
to  endeavour  to  maintain  and  preserve  the  EstabHshed  Laws, 
Liberties,  and  Customs,  and  above  all  the  Religion  and  Worship 
of  God,  that  is  established  among  them ;  and  to  take  such  an 
Effectual  Care  that  the  Inhabitants  of  the  said  State  or  King- 
dom may  neither  be  deprived  of  their  Religion  nor  of  their 
Civil  Rights ;  which  is  so  much  the  more  necessary,  because 
the  Greatness  and  Security  both  of  Kings,  Royal  Families,  and 
of  all  such  as  are  in  Authority,  as  well  as  the  Happiness  of 
their  Subjects  and  People,  depend,  in  a  most  especial  manner, 
upon  the  exact  Observation  and  Maintenance  of  these  their 
Laws,  Liberties,  and  Customs. 

II.  Upon  these  Grounds  it  is  that  we  can't  any  longer  for- 
bear to  declare.  That,  to  our  great  Regret,  we  see  that  those 
Counsellors,  who  have  now  the  chief  Credit  with  the  King, 
have  overturned  the  Religion,  Laws,  and  Liberties  of  these 
Realms,  and  subjected  them,  in  all  things  relating  to  their 
Consciences,  Liberties,  and  Properties,  to  Arbitrary  Govern- 
ment, and  that  not  only  by  secret  and  indirect  Ways,  but  in 
an  open  and  undisguised  Manner.  .  .  . 


Europe  and  Louis  XI V  29 

XII.  They  have  also,  by  putting  the  Administration  of  Civil  Catholics 
Justice  in  the  hands  of  Papists,  brought  all  the  Matters  of  Civil  "^^^^  J^^S^^^ 
Justice  into  great  Uncertainties ;   with  how  much  Exactness 

and  Justice  soever  these  Sentences  may  have  been  given. 
For  since  the  Laws  of  the  Land  do  not  only  exclude  Papists 
from  all  Places  of  Judicature,  but  have  put  them  under  an 
Incapacity,  none  are  bound  to  acknowledge  or  to  obey  their 
Judgments  ;  and  all  Sentences  given  by  them  are  null  and  void 
of  themselves  :  So  that  all  Persons  who  have  been  cast  in 
Trials  before  such  Popish  Judges,  may  justly  look  on  their 
pretended  Sentences  as  having  no  more  Force  than  the  Sen- 
tences of  any  private  and  unauthorized  Person  whatsoever.  .  .  . 
[The  king's  evil  counsellors]  have  not  only  armed  the  Papists, 
but  have  likewise  raised  them  up  to  the  greatest  Military  Trust, 
both  by  Sea  and  Land,  and  that  Strangers  as  well  as  Natives,  and 
Irish  as  well  as  English,  that  so  by  those  Means,  having  rendered 
themselves  Masters  both  of  the  Affairs  of  the  Church,  of  the  Gov- 
ernment of  the  Nation,  and  of  the  Courts  of  Justice,  and  sub- 
jected them  all  to  a  Despotick  and  Arbitrary  Power,  they  might 
be  in  a  capacity  to  maintain  and  execute  their  wicked  Designs,  by 
the  Assistance  of  the  Army,  and  thereby  to  enslave  the  Nation. 

XIII.  The  Dismal  Effects  of  this  Subversion  of  the  Estab-  Catholics 
lished  Religion,  Laws,  and  Liberties  in  England  appear  more  ^^P''^*"^  ^"^ 
evidently  to  us,  by  what  we  see  done  in  Ireland ;  where  the 

whole  Government  is  put  in  the  Hands  of  Papists,  and  where 
all  the  Protestant  Inhabitants  are  under  the  daily  Fears  of 
what  may  be  justly  apprehended  from  the  Arbitrary  Power 
which  is  set  up  there ;  which  has  made  great  numbers  of  them 
leave  that  Kingdom,  and  abandon  their  Estates  in  it,  remem- 
bering well  that  cruel  and  bloody  Massacre  which  fell  out  in 
that  Island  in  the  Year  1641. 

XIV.  Those  Evil  Counsellors  have  also  prevailed  with  the  James  II  sets 
King  to  declare  in  Scotland,  That  he  is  cloathed  with  Absolute  "P  arbitrary 

ffovcrn  mGnt 

Power,  and  that  all  the  Subjects  are  bound  to  Obey  him  with-  j^  Scotland 
out  Reserve :   Upon   which   he  assumed    an   Arbitrary   Power 
both  over  the  Religion  and  Laws  of  the  Kingdom ;  from  all 
of  which  it 's  apparent  what  is  to  be  looked  for  in  England 
as  soon  as  Matters  are  duly  prepared  for  it. 


30 


Readings  in  Mode 711  European  History 


The  interest 
of  William 
and  Mary  in 
the  English 
succession 


Conquest  not 
intended 


XV.  Those  great  and  insufferable  Oppressions,  and  the  open 
Contempt  of  all  Law,  together  with  the  Apprehensions  of  the 
sad  Consequences  that  must  certainly  follow  upon  it,  have  put 
the  Subjects  under  great  and  just  Fears;  and  have  made  them 
look  after  such  Lawful  Remedies  as  are  allow'd  of  in  all 
Nations ;  yet  all  has  been  without  effect.  .  .  . 

XX.  And  since  Our  dearest  and  most  entirely  Beloved  Con- 
sort the  Princess,  and  likewise  We  Ourselves,  have  so  great 
an  Interest  in  this  Matter,  and  such  a  Right  as  all  the  World 
knows  to  the  Succession  of  the  Crown  :  Since  all  the  English 
did,  in  the  Year  1672,  when  the  States  General  of  the  U?iited 
Provinces  were  invaded  with  a  most  unjust  War,  use  their 
utmost  Endeavours  to  put  an  end  to  that  War,  and  that  in 
Opposition  to  those  who  were  then  in  the  Government;  and 
by  their  so  doing,  they  run  the  hazard  of  losing  both  the 
Favour  of  the  Court  and  their  Employments  :  And  since  the 
English  Nation  has  ever  testified  a  most  particular  Affection 
and  Esteem,  both  to  our  dearest  Consort  the  Princess,  and  to 
Ourselves,  We  cannot  excuse  ourselves  from  espousing  their 
Interest  in  a  Matter  of  such  High  Consequence  :  And  for 
contributing  all  that  lies  .in  us  for  the  maintaining  both  of  the 
Protestant  Religion,,  and  of  the  Laws  and  Liberties  of  those 
Kingdoms,  and  for  the  Securing  to  them  the  continual  Enjoy- 
ment of  all  their  just  Rights.  To  the  doings  of  which,  We  are 
most  earnestly  solicited  by  a  great  many  Lords,  both  Spiritual 
and  Temporal,  and  by  many  Gentlemen,  and  other  Subjects 
of  all  Ranks. 

XXI.  Therefore  it  is.  That  We  have  thought  fit  to  go  over 
to  England,  and  to  carry  over  with  us  a  Force  sufficient, 
by  the  Blessing  of  God,  to  defend  us  from  the  Violence  of 
those  evil  Counsellors.  And  We,  being  desirous  that  our  Inten- 
tion in  this  might  be  rightly  understood,  have  for  this  end 
prepared  this  Declaration,  in  which,  as  we  have  hitherto  given 
a  true  Account  of  the  Reasons  inducing  us  to  it,  so  we  now 
think  fit  to  declare.  That  this  our  Expedition  is  intended  for 
no  other  Design,  but  to  have  a  Free  and  Lawful  Parliament 
Assembled,  as  soon  as  possible,  and  that  the  members  shall 
meet  and  sit  in  full  freedom.  .  .  . 


Europe  mid  Louis  XIV  31 

XXV.  We  do  in  the  last  place  invite  and  require  all  persons  A  free 
whatsoever,  all  the  Peers  of  the  Realm,  both  Spiritual  and  Parliament 
Temporal,  all  Lords- Lieutenants,  Deputy-Lieutenants,  and  all 
Gentlemen,  Citizens,  and  other  Commons  of  all  Ranks,  to  come 
and  assist  Us,  in  order  to  the  Executing  of  this  our  Design 
against  all  such  as  shall  endeavour  to  oppose  us ;  that  so  we 
may  prevent  all  those  Miseries,  which  must  needs  follow 
upon  the  Nations  being  kept  under  Arbitrary  Government  and 
Slavery  :  And  that  all  the  Violence  and  Disorders  which  have 
overturned  the  whole  Constitution  of  the  English  Government 
may  be  fully  redressed  in  a  F7'ee  and  Legal  Pa7'liament.  .  .  . 

XXVL  And  we  will  endeavour,  by  all  Possible  means,  to 
procure  such  an  Establishment  in  all  the  Three  Kingdoms 
that  they  may  all  live  in  a  happy  Union  and  Correspondence 
together ;  and  that  the  Protestant  Religion,  and  the  Peace, 
Honour,  and  Happiness  of  those  NATIONS  may  be  Established 
upon  Lasting  Foundations. 

Given  under  Our  Hand  and  Seal  at  Our  Court  in  the 
Hague,  the  loth  Day  ^October,  in  the  Year  of 
Our  Lord  16ZZ 

WILLIAM  HENRY,  Fri7ice  ^/Orange 

By  His  Highness^ s  Special  Conifnand 

Opinions  in  regard  to  the  expediency  of  the  revocation  15.  Saint- 
of  the  edict  naturally  differed.  Madame  de  Sevigne,  the  an™ry  ac- 
s^entlest  of  women  and  most  devout  of  Catholics,  wrote  :  count  of  the 

^  revocation  01 

"  You  have  doubtless  seen  the  edict  by  which  the  king  the  Edict  of 

revokes  that  of  Nantes.    Nothing  could  be  finer  than  all 

its  provisions.   No  king  has  done  or  ever  will  do  anything 

more  honorable."    Saint-Simon,  on  the  other  hand,  gives 

a  somewhat  lurid  account  of  the  criminal  stupidity  and 

the  fearful  results  of  the  revocation. 

The  revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  without  the  slightest 
pretext  or  necessity,  and  the  various  proscriptions  that  followed 
it,  were  the  fruits  of  a  frightful  plot,  in  which  the  new  spouse 


2,2  Readings  in  Modern  Enropea7i  History 

was  one  of  the  chief  conspirators,  and  which  depopulated  a 
quarter  of  the  realm ;  ruined  its  commerce ;  weakened  it  in 
every  direction  ;  gave  it  up  for  a  long  time  to  the  public  and 
avowed  pillage  of  the  dragoons ;  authorized  torments  and  pun- 
ishments by  which  many  innocent  people  of  both  sexes  were 
killed  by  thousands ;  ruined  a  numerous  class ;  tore  in  pieces 
a  world  of  families  ;  armed  relatives  against  relatives,  so  as  to 
seize  their  property  and  leave  them  to  die  of  hunger ;  banished 
our  manufactures  to  foreign  lands ;  made  those  lands  flourish 
and  overflow  at  the  expense  of  France,  and  enabled  them  to 
build  new  cities ;  gave  to  the  world  the  spectacle  of  a  pro- 
digious population  proscribed  without  crime,  stripped,  fugitive, 
wandering,  and  seeking  shelter  far  from  their  country ;  sent  to 
the  galleys  nobles,  rich  old  men,  people  much  esteemed  for 
their  piety,  learning,  and  virtue,  people  carefully  nurtured, 
weak,  and  delicate,  —  and  all  solely  on  account  of  religion;  in 
fact,  to  heap  up  the  measure  of  horror,  filled  the  realm  with 
perjury  and  sacrilege,  in  the  midst  of  the  echoed  cries  of  these 
unfortunate  victims  of  error,  while  so  many  others  sacrificed 
their  conscience  to  their  wealth  and  their  repose,  and  purchased 
both  by  stimulated  abjuration,  from  which  without  pause  they 
were  dragged  to  adore  what  they  did  not  believe  in,  and  to 
receive  the  divine  body  of  the  Most  Holy  whilst  remaining 
persuaded  that  they  were  only  eating  bread  which  they  ought 
to  abhor ! 

Such  was  the  general  abomination  born  of  flattery  and 
cruelty.  From  torture  to  abjuration,  and  from  that  to  com- 
munion, there  was  often  only  a  space  of  twenty-four  hours; 
and  executioners  were  the  guides  of  the  converts  and  their 
witnesses.  .  .  .  The  king  received  from  all  sides  detailed  news 
of  these  conversions.  It  was  by  thousands  that  those  who  had 
abjured  and  taken  the  communion  were  counted ;  ten  thou- 
sand in  one  place,  six  thousand  in  another, — all  at  once 
and  instantly.  The  king  congratulated  himself  on  his  power 
and  his  piety.  He  believed  himself  to  have  brought  back  the 
days  of  the  apostles  and  attributed  to  himself  all  the  honor. 
The  bishops  wrote  panegyrics  of  him ;  the  Jesuits  made  the 
pulpit   resound  with  his   praise.     All   France  was  filled  with 


Europe  and  Louis  XIV  33 

horror  and  confusion ;  and  yet  there  was  never  such  triumph 
and  joy,  such  boundless  laudation  of  the  king. 

It  is  difficult  to  form  an  adequate  degree  of  the 
atrocity  of  the  French  commanders  in  burning  the 
towns  on  the  Rhine  in  1689.  Their  excuse  was  that 
after  their  retreat  these  towns  would  be  occupied  by 
their  German  enemies.  A  citizen  of  Speyer  has  given 
us  an  account  of  the  burning  of  that  city.  This  may 
be  briefly  condensed  as  follows  : 

As  I  was  returning  to  Speyer  from  Kirrweiler  on  the  twenty-  16.  The  burn- 
third  :of  May  of  this  year  (1689)  at  about  five  o'clock  in  the  jng  of  Speyer 
afternoon,  I  guessed  from  the  conduct  and  disturbed  faces  of  French  (June, 
the  citizens  that  some  terrible  news  had  arrived.    Two  or  three  1689) 
of  the  burgomasters  and  the  to^^•n  scribe,  Wegelaz,  came  to 
me  to  say  that  about  an  hour  before,  the  French  intendant  of 
war,  M.  la  Fond,  had  arrived  and  summoned  the  chief  magis- 
trates and  fifteen  leading  citizens  to  listen   to  certain  royal 
commands.    To  those  that  assembled  he  read  the  following  : 

"  The  interests  of  his  royal  Majesty,  owing  to  existing  condi-  The  French 
tions,  demand  that  this  town  be  entirely  evacuated  within  six  ^"^^^"^  Speyer 

1  T^T  1  11       •  .   .  r        •  11         tobeevacu- 

days.  Not  only  must  all  wmes,  provisions,  furniture,  and  other  ^ted 
effects  be  removed,  but  everybody,  whether  laymen  or  clergy, 
must  leave  and  take  refuge  somewhere  on  this  side  the  Rhine 
or  in  Philippsburg.  These  orders  are  not  the  result  of  his 
royal  Majesty's  fear  of  his  enemies,  nor  has  he  any  grudge 
against  the  town,  but  is  well  satisfied  with  its  conduct  hitherto. 
Accordingly  you  need  not  conclude  that  the  town  is  to  be 
burned.  It  is  necessary,  nevertheless,  in  order  to  deprive  his 
enemies  of  all  means  of  subsistence,  to  have  the  town  evacu- 
ated. You  must  accordingly  transmit  this  royal  command  to 
all  the  citizens  and  clergy  and  order  its  execution,  for  every- 
thing that  remains  in  the  town  after  the  expiration  of  the  term 
set,  shall  fall  to  the  king  and  his  soldiers." 

All  remonstrances  and  pleading  were  vain,  the  city  scribe 
translated  the  order  into  German,  and  the  citizens  could  find 
their  only  consolation  in  the  promise  that  the  town  should  not 


34  Readings  in  Modern  European  History 

be  burned.  They  pleaded  for  more  time,  but  were  told  that  it 
was  useless  to  apply  to  the  king  or  Marshal  Duras,  that  they 
must  set  to  work  to  remove  their  goods  by  means  of  the  hun- 
dred carts  which  they  had,  and  that  they  could  store  the  goods, 
which  could  not  be  removed  within  the  time  fixed,  in  the 
cathedral,  where  everything  would  be  safe. 

When  the  clergy,  the  Jesuits  and  members  of  the  four 
mendicant  orders,  appealed  to  the  French  officers,  they  were 
received  with  words  of  sympathy  and  compassion,  but  no  hope 
was  given.  The  boys  and  girls,  dressed  in  white,  marched  in 
procession  to  the  intendant  and  general  and  besought  him 
vainly  for  mercy  on  the  town.  The  officers  declared  that  their 
orders  came  from  the  court  at  Versailles  and  that  they  could 
not  make  any  concessions. 
The  town  set  In  the  meantime  there  was  much  talk  of  further  delay,  when 
on  fire  ^^^  ^^^  morning  of  the  twenty -seventh,  between  ten  and  eleven 

o'clock.  General  Montclair  announced  that  he  had  received 
orders  to  set  fire  to  the  town,  churches,  and  cloisters,  with  the 
single  exception  of  the  cathedral.  On  May  31,  at  six  in  the 
afternoon,  the  destruction  began  as  it  did  at  Worms.  The  fire 
was  started  by  the  Weidenberg  and  spread  gradually  —  for  it 
was  a  still  evening  —  through  the  fish  market.  There  was  an 
old  man  in  the  upper  story  of  the  bell  ringer's  house  who  was 
miserably  burned  to  death,  whether  he  could  not  or  would  not 
make  his  escape. 

On  June  i  the  fire  caught  the  houses  in  the  market  place 
and  progressed  towards  the  church  of  St.  James  and  the  Horse 
Market.  About  ten  o'clock  a  fearful  thunderstorm  and  wind 
arose  which  spread  the  fire  with  terrible  rapidity,  so  that  in  an 
instant  it  was  raging  in  the  Herdgasse,  and  reached  the  White 
Tower.  Between  eleven  and  twelve  it  enveloped  the  Wolz- 
hausen  and  the  whole  neighborhood,  for  the  wind  scattered  a 
shower  of  sparks  everywhere,  and  so  it  came  about  that  the  bell 
tower  of  the  cathedral  was  set  on  fire.  This  was  extinguished 
no  less  than  three  times,  but  the  cloisters  were  ignited  by 
incendiaries  and  the  near-by  buildings  caught. 
Burning  of  the  A  little  flame  was  then  discovered  in  the  tower  over  the 
cathedral         choir.    Every  effort  was  made  to  put  it  out,  but  the  strong 


Europe  and  Louis  XIV  35 

wind,  dry  wood,  and  the  danger  from  the  stream  of  molten 
lead  from  the  burning  roof  combined  to  permit  the  fire  to  get 
the  upper  hand.  When  I  saw  that  the  cathedral  was  in  the 
utmost  danger  I  tried  to  save  the  miracle-working  figure  of 
the  Virgin,  but  the  shower  of  lead  and  the  thick  smoke  pre- 
vented. Seeing  that  nothing  could  be  done,  I  mounted  my 
horse  and  rode  into  the  suburb  of  the  Carmelites.  Here  I 
appealed  to  the  general  who  had  received  me  with  so  much 
sympathy  before,  to  place  guards  at  the  doors  of  the  cathedral 
to  prevent  plundering. 

On  June  3  I  sent  my  servants  to  inspect  the  cathedral. 
They  found  the  miracle-working  Virgin  quite  uninjured  and 
brought  it  thither.  We  placed  it  in  the  church  here.  It  is 
remarkable  that  even  the  artificial  flowers  which  adorned  it 
were  not  harmed,  although  one  of  the  doors  of  the  shrine, 
which  I  had  carefully  shut  upon  my  last  visit,  was  burnt  for 
several  inches. 

On  the  fifth,  I  learned  that  an  order  had  arrived  to  mine 
and  blow  up  the  towers  of  the  cathedral  as  well  as  the  build- 
ings attached.  I  went  immediately  to  Marshal  Duras  at  Oden- 
heim  to  get  the  order  countermanded,  and  succeeded  finally. 
I  wished  then  to  see  with  my  own  eyes  the  ruin  of  the  noble 
building,  and  found  it,  alas,  in  a  worse  state  than  had  been 
reported  to  me.  The  vaulting  of  the  nave  had  wholly  collapsed, 
the  building  full  of  rubbish  ;  and  chairs,  altars,  and  everything 
that  had  been  stored  there  was  reduced  to  ashes.  The  sacristy 
and  other  portions  that  had  escaped  the  fire  had  been  plun- 
dered. The  deacon  vom  Weideberg  had  gone  into  the  sacristy 
as  soon  as  he  durst,  to  see  if  the  body  of  Saint  Guido  was  still 
there.  He  found  the  receptacle  broken  open  and  the  holy 
head  of  the  saint  stolen  on  account  of  its  silver  crown.  The 
rest  of  the  saint's  body  he  brought  to  a  place  of  safety.  In 
the  choir,  moreover,  several  of  the  emperors'  tombs  had  been 
opened  ;  the  epitaphs,  inscriptions,  and  everything  that  looked 
like  metal  had  been  taken  and  a  number  of  the  statues  them- 
selves mutilated. 

Von  Rollingen 
Kirrweiler,  June  15,  1689 


36 


Readings  in  Modern  European  History 


17.  The  mo- 
tives of  the 
English  in 
the  War  of 
the  League 
of  Augsburg 


In  1689  the  new  king  of  England,  William  III,  issued 
the  following  declaration  of  war  against  France,  describ- 
ing with  considerable  fullness  the  English  grievances 
against  Louis  XIV. 

It  having  pleased  God  to  make  Us  the  happy  Instrument  of 
Rescuing  these  Nations  from  great  and  imminent  Dangers, 
and  to  place  Us  upon  the  Throne  of  these  Kingdoms,  we  think 
ourselves  obliged  to  endeavour  to  the  uttermost  to  promote  the 
Welfare  of  our  People,  which  can  never  be  effectually  secured, 
but  by  preventing  the  Miseries  that  threaten  them  from  abroad. 

When  we  consider  the  many  unjust  Methods  the  French 
King  hath  of  late  years  taken  to  gratify  his  Ambition,  that  he 
has  not  only  invaded  the  Territories  of  the  Emperor,  and  of 
the  Empire,  now  in  Amity  with  us,  laying  waste  whole  Coun- 
tries and  destroying  the  Inhabitants  by  his  Armies,  but  declared 
War  against  our  Allies  without  any  Provocation,  in  manifest  Vio- 
lation of  the  Treaties  confirmed  by  the  Guaranty  of  the  Crown 
of  England,  we  can  do  no  less  than  joyn  with  our  Allies  in 
opposing  the  Designs  of  the  French  King,  as  the  Disturber  of 
the  Peace,  and  the  common  Enemy  of  the  Christian  World. 

And  besides  the  Obligations  we  lie  under  by  Treaties  with 
our  Allies  (which  are  a  sufficient  Justification  of  Us  for  taking 
up  Arms  at  this  time,  since  they  have  called  upon  us  so  to  do), 
the  many  Injuries  done  to  Us  and  to  our  Subjects,  without 
any  Reparation,  by  the  French  King,  are  such,  that  (however 
of  late  years  they  were  not  taken  notice  of,  for  Reasons  well 
known  to  the  World)  nevertheless  we  will  not  pass  them  over 
without  a  publick  and  just  Resentment  of  such  Outrages. 

It  is  not  long  since  the  French  took  Licenses  from  the  Eiig- 
lish  Government  of  Newfound-land,  to  Fish  in  the  Seas  upon 
that  Coast,  and  pay  a  Tribute  for  such  Licenses,  as  an  Ac- 
knowledgment of  the  sole  Right  of  the  Crown  of  England  to 
that  Island  ;  and  yet  of  late,  the  Encroachments  of  the  F7-ench 
upon  our  said  Island,  and  our  Subjects'  Trade  and  Fishery, 
have  been  more  like  the  Invasions  of  an  Enemy  than  becom- 
ing Friends,  who  enjoy'd  the  Advantages  of  that  Trade  only 
by  Permission. 


Eiu'ope  and  Louis  XIV  37 

But  that  the  French  King  should  invade  our  Charibbee  French  con- 
Islands,  and  possess  himself  of  our  Territories  of  the  Province  ^"'^^  \"  North 
of  New  York  and  of  Hudson's  Bay,  in  a  hostile  manner,  seiz- 
ing our  Forts,  burning  our  Subjects'  Houses,  and  enriching  his 
People  with  the  Spoil  of  their  Goods  and  Merchandizes,  de- 
taining some  of  our  Subjects  under  the  Hardship  of  Imprison- 
ment, causing  others  to  be  inhumanely  kill'd,  and  driving  the 
rest  to  Sea  in  a  small  Vessel,  without  Food  or  Necessaries  to 
support  them,  are  Actions  not  becoming  even  an  Enemy  ;  and 
yet  he  was  so  far  from  declaring  himself  so,  that  at  that  very 
time  he  was  negotiating  here  in  England  by  his  Ministers  a 
Treaty  of  Neutrality  and  good  Correspondence  in  A?nerica. 

The  proceedings  of  the  French  King  against  our  Subjects  in  The  commer- 
Europe  are  so  notorious  that  we  shall  not  need  to  enlarge  <^i^l  "valry 
upon  them  ;  his  countenancing  the  Seizure  of  English  Ships 
by  French  Privateers,  forbidding  the  Importation  of  a  great 
part  of  the  Product  and  Manufactures  of  our  Kingdom,  and 
imposing  exorbitant  Customs  upon  the  rest,  notwithstanding 
the  vast  Advantages  he  and  the  French  Nation  reap  by  their 
Commerce  with  England,  are  sufficient  Evidences  of  his  De- 
signs to  destroy  the  Trade,  and  consequently  to  ruine  the 
Navigation,  upon  which  the  \^'ealth  and  Safety  of  this  Nation 
very  much  depends.  .  .  . 

But  that  which  most  nearly  touches  us,  is  his  unchristian  prose-  Louis  xiv 
cution  of  many  of  our  English  Protestant  Subjects  in  France,  persecutes 
for  Matters  of  Religion,  contrary  to  the  Law  of  Nations,  and  pro^teJtants 
express  Treaties,   forcing  them  to   abjure  their  Religion   by 
strange  and  unusual  Cruelties,  and  imprisoning  some  of  the 
Masters  and  Seamen  of  our  Merchant  Ships,  and  condemning 
others  to  the  Gallies,  upon  pretence  of  having  on  Board  either 
some  of  his  own  miserable  Protestant  Subjects  or  their  Effects. 
And  lastly.  As  he  has  for  some  years  last  past  endeavoured  by 
Insinuations  and  Promises  of  Assistance  to  overthrow  the  Gov- 
ernment of  England ;  so  now  by  open  and  violent  Methods, 
and  the  actual  Invasion  of  our  Kingdom  in  Ireland,  in  support 
of  our  Subjects  in  Arms  and  in  Rebellion  against  Us,  he  is  pro- 
moting the  utter  Extirpation  of  our  good  and  loyal  Subjects  in 
that  our  Kingdom. 


38  Readings  in  Modern  European  History 

Being  therefore  thus  necessitated  to  take  up  Arms,  and  rely- 
ing on  the  help  of  Almighty  God  in  our  just  Undertaking,  We 
thought  fit  to  Declare,  and  do  hereby  Declare  War  against  the 
French  King,  and  that  we  will,  in  Conjunction  with  our  Allies, 
vigorously  prosecute  the  same  by  Sea  and  Land  (since  he  hath 
so  unrighteously  begun  it),  being  assured  of  the  hearty  Con- 
currence and  Assistance  of  our  Subjects  in  support  of  so  good 
a  cause. 

Given  at  our  cotirt  at  Hampton-Court  the  seventh 
day  of  May\  1689,  in  the  first  year  of  our 
Reign 

God  save  King  William  and 
Queen  Mary 


CHAPTER  III 

RECONSTRUCTION  OF  EUROPE  AT  UTRECHT 

Section  8.     The  Question  of  the  Spanish  Succession 

The  attitude  of  the  EngHsh  business  class  toward  the 
question  of  the  Spanish  Succession  is  well  illustrated  by 
a  pamphlet  (published  in  London  in  1 701)  by  a  commis- 
sioner of  trade  and  plantations,  George  Stepney,  from 
which  the  extracts  which  follow  are  taken. 

That  we  are  in  the  greatest  danger  of  losing  our  trade,  our  18.  An  Eng^ 

liberty,  and  our  religion  will  hardly  be  denied  by  any  man  who  lishman's 

will  seriously  reflect  on  the  consequences  likely  to  attend  the  danger  to 

perfect  union  of  France  and  Spain,  —  unless  he  can  suppose  England 

the  French  king's  ambition  satiated  with  this  great  success,  ^rom  Prance's 

^  control  of 

and  that,  as  his  power  to  do  mischief  shall  increase,  his  ill  will  Spain  (1701) 

to  us  and  his  hatred  to  our  religion  shall  be  lessened.  .  .   . 

That  it  is  the  interest  and  desire  of  the  French  to  destroy 
both  the  Dutch  and  us  will  easily  be  allowed,  since  't  is  we  who 
for  a  long  time  have  checked  their  pride  and  disappointed 
their  ambitious  designs.  Our  maritime  power  is  terrible  to  her, 
nor  will  she  readily  forget  the  affront  received  at  The  Hague  ; 
besides  that  king's  affection  to  be  the  champion  of  popery, 
and  his  usage  of  our  Protestant  brethren  in  his  dominions,  tell 
us  sufficiently  what  we  are  to  expect  from  him. 

The  same  superstitious  principle  will  not  fail  to  make  the 
Spaniards  concur  cheerfully  with  any  measures  that  he  shall 
propose  to  ruin  our  trade,  which,  being  the  great  source  of  our 
wealth,  is  consequently  the  greatest  support  to  the  Protestant 
religion,  so  much  abhorred  by  them.  And  what  opportunities 
they  have  of  doing  it  is  but  too  obvious  to  any  man  that 
knows  what  a  vast  coast  they  possess  in  both  worlds  ;  to  say 

39 


40 


Readings  in  Modern  Europeaji  History 


English  cloth 

manufacture 

threatened 


Danger  that 
the  French 
will  enjoy  all 
the  privileges 
of  Spaniards 


Peace  more 
hazardous 
than  war 


nothing  of  the  Straits-mouth,  which,  with  the  help  of  a  fleet, 
they  command  absolutely. 

Nor  is  there  anything  to  hinder  the  French  from  monopoliz- 
ing the  wool  of  Spain,  which  would  at  once  destroy  our  fine 
drapery,  which  perhaps  is  the  only  considerable  manufacture 
in  which  we  have  no  dangerous  rival.  .  .  . 

Can  we  doubt  that  whenever  the  French  shall  desire  it,  the 
Spaniards  will  clog  our  trade  to  Spain  with  such  exorbitant  duties, 
and  give  us  such  other  trouble  and  vexations,  that  we  shall  be 
obliged  to  quit  that  gainful  commerce,  which  will  be  engrossed 
by  France,  where  all  the  money  that  comes  from  America  will 
then  center,  in  return  for  the  linen  and  woolen  manufactures 
it  will  be  able  to  supply  their  Indies  and  Spain  withal. 

What  if,  besides  these  advantages,  all  the  French  subjects 
shall  be  naturalized  Spaniards  and,  as  such,  have  liberty  to  trade 
freely  from  France  to  the  West  Indies?  Is  it  not  evident  that 
this  single  privilege  will  enable  them  to  undersell  us,  though 
we  should  be  allowed  to  trade  on  our  old  footing  to  Cadiz,  and 
that  consequently  't  will  carry  all  the  treasure  of  the  New  World 
to  France?  Or  can  we  promise  ourselves  the  continuance  of 
that  most  beneficial  trade  carried  on  of  late  years  by  conniv- 
ance from  Jamaica,^  directly  to  the  continent  of  their  America? 
Can  we,  I  say,  promise  ourselves  any  indulgences  of  that  kind 
from  the  Frenchified  Spaniards  who  will  be  governors  in  all 
their  ports? 

I  might  dwell  much  longer  on  this  subject,  but  after  what 
had  been  hinted,  I  appeal  to  any  reasonable  man,  whether 
't  will  not  be  in  the  power  of  the  French  king  to  impoverish 
us  more  by  a  ten  years'  peace,  as  things  now  stand,  than  'tis 
probable  a  war  of  the  same  continuance  would  do. 

When  this  mischief  is  felt,  't  will  be  in  vain  for  us  to  repent 
our  mistaken  measures,  in  having  preferred  an  ignominious  and 
destructive  peace  to  a  war  which  might  have  been  made  with 
advantage,  safety,  and  glory.  And  if  we  shall  then  attempt  a 
war  against  an  enemy  whose  wealth  will  be  increased  in  the 
same  or  a  greater  proportion  than  both  ours  and  the  Dutch 

1  For  the  nature  of  the  English  trade  and  smuggling,  see  below, 

pp.  -jz  'qq- 


Reconstructio7t  of  Europe  at  Utrecht  4 1 

will  be  lessened,  't  will  be  too  late,  since  we  shall  be  destitute 
of  those  allies  we  first  deserted,  and  shall  have  suffered  such 
a  diminution  of  our  power  at  home  that  't  will  then  be  mad- 
ness to  provoke  an  enemy  so  much  above  our  strength.  But 
there  is  no  fear  of  our  being  guilty  of  such  rashness ;  we  shall 
have  then  learned  humbler  thoughts,  and  think  ourselves  happy 
if  that  invincible  monarch  will  allow  us  peacefully  to  enjoy  the 
product  of  our  own  island.  But  even  that  will  in  all  probability 
be  denied  us,  and  the  continuance  of  that  inglorious  peace, 
which  many  are  now  so  fond  of,  must  be  purchased  at  the 
expense  of  our  religion  and  liberty. 

The  abdicated  Prince  will  be  imposed  upon  us,  and  if  we  Danger  that 
are  stubborn,  we  shall  be  used  as  traitors  to  God  and  our  lawful  ^ouis  will  aid 
king.   That  the  French  king  will  attempt  to  reestablish  that  regain  their 
family  will  easily  be  agreed  to,  if  we  consider  that  nothing  can  English 
be  imagined  so  agreeable  to  his  interest,  his  resentment,  his  ^h'^""^ 
ambition,  and  his  blind  zeal  for  popery.    To  his  interest,  by 
humbling  a  free  and  powerful  state,  the  liberty  and  flourishing 
condition  of  which  must  be  great  eyesores  to  a  tyrant  who 
would  have  all  people  as  miserable  as  his  own  subjects,  that  they 
may  more  easily  endure  their  slavery  ;  to  his  resentment  and  in- 
terest, by  revenging  himself  upon  those  who  have  proved  the 
main   obstacle  to  his  long-courted  universal  monarchy ;   and 
who,  till  they  shall  be  humbled,  will  continue  to  do  so.   His 
ambition,  'tis  well  known,  was  never,  since  his  reign,  so  foiled 
as  by  his  forced  compliance  to  own  our  present  king,  after  a 
ten  years'  war  to  support  King  James,  whose  interest  he  had 
so  often  publicly  declared  he  would  never  abandon.    And  't  is 
now  the  common  discourse  in  France,  that  nothing  is  wanting 
to  complete  the  glory  of  Louis  the  Great,  and  to  cause  his 
name  to  sound  above  Charlemagne's,  but  the  reestablishment 
of  the  king  of  England. 

When  therefore  we  add  that  instigations  will  not  be  wanting 
from  Rome  to  prosecute  so  pious  and  religious  a  work  as  the 
reduction  of  England  to  the  Catholic  faith ;  when,  I  say,  we  con- 
sider all  these  matters  seriously,  we  must  be  very  skeptics  if  we 
can  doubt  that  such  a  design  will  be  set  on  foot  as  soon  as  there 
shall  be  a  prospect  of  its  being  carried  on  successfully.  .  .  > 


42  Readi7igs  in  Modern  Eiiropemi  History 

Section  g.     Will  of  Charles  II,  and  War  of  tJie 
Spanish  Succession 

The  opening  paragraph  of  the  will  of  Charles  II  (dated 
October  2,  1700)  and  the  chief  clauses  relating  to  the 
succession  to  the  Spanish  possessions  are  given  below. 

19.  Will  of  In  the  name  of  the  most  Holy  Trinity,  the  Father,  Son,  and 

Charles  II        Holy  Spirit,  three  distinct  persons,  but  one  only  and  true  God  ; 

(1700)  and  in  the  name  of  the  Holy  Virgin   Mary,  Mother  of  the 

Eternal  Word,  our  Protectress ;  and  in  the  name  of  all  the 

Saints  of  the  Celestial  Court. 

I,  Don  Carlos,  by  the  Grace  of  God  King  of  Castile,  Leon, 
and  Aragon,  of  the  two  Sicilies,  Jerusalem,  Navarre,  Granada, 
Toledo,  Valencia,  Galicia,  Majorca,  Seville,  Sardinia,  Cordova, 
Corsegua,  Murcia,  Ja^n,  Algarve,  Algeciras,  Gibraltar,  of  the 
Canary  Islands,  East  and  West  Indies,  of  the  Islands  and  Terra 
Firma  of  the  Ocean,  Archduke  of  Austria,  Duke  of  Burgundy, 
Brabant,  Milan,  Athens,  etc..  Count  of  Hapsburg,  Flanders, 
Tyrol,  and  Barcelona,  Lord  of  Biscay  and  Molina  ;  knowing  that 
as  a  mortal  man  I  cannot  avoid  death,  a  punishment  which  we 
have  all  of  us  incurred  by  the  sin  of  our  first  parent ;  and  being 
sick  abed  of  a  long  distemper,  with  which  it  hath  pleased  God 
to  afflict  me,  I  declare  my  last  will  by  this  present  testament ; 
which,  by  an  effect  of  the  Divine  Bounty,  I  make  with  an  under- 
standing as  sound  and  as  free  as  ever  I  had  in  my  life.^  .  .  . 

1  The  correspondence  of  the  English  ambassador,  Alexander  Stan- 
hope, who  was  in  Spain  during  the  last  years  of  Charles  II,  gives  some 
hints  of  that  unhappy  monarch's  condition. 

Madrid^  September  i6,  i6g6.  His  Catholic  Majesty  has  been  ex- 
tremely ill  these  seven  days,  which  has  stopped  all  couriers  and  expresses  ; 
but,  thanks  be  to  God,  is  now  much  better  by  taking  of  quinine,  yet  not 
so  safe  as  his  good  subjects  wish  him. 

Madrid,  September  ig,  ibgb.  The  King's  danger  is  over  for  this  time, 
but  his  constitution  is  so  very  weak,  and  broken  much  beyond  his  age, 
that  it  is  generally  feared  what  may  be  the  success  of  such  another 
attack.  They  cut  his  hair  off  in  this  sickness,  which  the  decay  of  nature 
had  almost  done  before,  all  his  crown  being  bald.  He  has  a  ravenous 
stomach,  and  swallows  all  he  eats  whole,  for  his  nether  jaw  stands  so 


Reconstruction  of  Eii?'ope  at  Utrecht  43 

If  God  out  of  his  infinite  mercy  give  me  lawful  issue,  I 
declare  as  universal  heir  of  all  my  kingdoms,  dominions,  and 
seigniories,  my  eldest  son,  and  other  sons,  according  to  the 
order  of  their  birth,  and  failing  male  issue,  my  daughters, 
according  to  the  laws  of  our  kingdoms.  But  since  God  hath 
not  as  yet  granted  me  that  favor,  at  the  time  I  make  this  will ; 
and  since  my  chief  obligation  is  to  take  care  of  the  welfare  of 
my  subjects,  so  ordering  it  that  all  my  kingdoms  may  continue 
united,  and  maintain  that  loyalty  which  they  owe  to  their 
natural  king  and  lord,  as  they  have  always  been  accustomed  to 
do,  and  which,  indeed,  makes  me  to  believe  that  they  will  will- 
ingly acquiesce  in  what  is  most  just,  when  they  see  the  same 
authorized  and  fortified  by  my  sovereign  will : 

Having  then   understood  by   several  conferences   which  I  Charles  11 
have  had  with  my  ministers  of  State  and  Justice,  that  the  leaves  the 
reason  which  led  the  Infantas  Anna  and  Maria  Theresa,  queens  realms  to  the 
of  France,  my  aunt  and  sister,  to  renounce  their  claims  to  the  Duke  of 
succession  to  these  kingdoms,  was  to  avoid  the  inconvenience  ^"J°" 
of  their  being  united  to  the  crown  of  France  ;  and  that  that 
fundamental  motive  having  disappeared,  the  right  of  succession 
still  continued  to  subsist  in  the  person  of  him  that  is  next  a 
kin,  according  to  the  laws  of  those  kingdoms,  who,  it  happens 
at  present,  is  the  second  son  of  the  Dauphin  of  France,  in  case 
I  die  without  issue ;  and  accommodating  myself  to  the  said 
laws,  I  declare  the  Duke  of  Anjou  my  successor,  and  as  such 

much  out,  that  his  two  rows  of  teeth  cannot  meet ;  to  compensate  which, 
he  has  a  prodigious  wide  throat,  so  that  a  gizzard  or  liver  of  a  hen  passes 
down  whole.  .  .  .  This  king's  life  being  of  such  importance  in  this 
conjecture  as  to  all  the  affairs  of  Europe,  I  thought  might  excuse  these 
particulars,  which  otherwise  would  seem  impertinent. 

Mad7-id,  March  14,  i6g8.  The  King  is  so  very  weak,  he  can  scarcely 
lift  his  hand  to  his  head  to  feed  himself ;  and  so  extremely  melancholy 
that  neither  his  buffoons,  dwarfs,  nor  puppet  shows — all  which  have 
showed  their  abilities  before  him  —  can  in  the  least  divert  him  from 
fancying  everything  that  is  said  or  done  to  be  a  temptation  of  the  devil, 
and  never  thinking  himself  safe  but  with  his  confessor  and  two  friars 
by  his  side,  whom  he  makes  lie  in  his  chamber  every  night. 

Spain  imder  Charles  the  Second^  Extracts  from  the  Correspond- 
ence of  the  Honorable  Alexander  Stanhope  (edited  by  Lord 
Mahon).    London,  1844. 


44 


Readings  in  Modern  Eit-ropea7i  History 


Provision  for 
preventing 
the  union  of 
Spain  and 
France 


I  call  him  to  the  succession  of  all  my  kingdoms,  without  any 
exception  ;  and  command  all  my  subjects  and  vassals  that,  in 
case  God  call  me  without  lawful  succession,  they  should  own 
and  acknowledge  him  as  their  king  and  natural  lord,  and  that 
they  give  him  without  delay  the  actual  possession  of  the  said 
kingdoms,  after  his  taking  the  oath  that  he  ought  to  take,  to 
observe  their  laws,  privileges,  and  customs. 

And  as  it  is  my  intention,  —  since  this  much  imports  the 
repose  of  Christendom  and  Europe,  and  the  peace  of  my  said 
kingdoms,  —  that  this  monarchy  should  always  be  separate 
from  the  crown  of  France,  I  accordingly  declare,  that  if  the 
Duke  of  Anjou  happen  to  die,  or  fall  heir  to  that  crown,  and 
prefer  it  to  this  of  Spain,  the  succession  of  Spain  shall  go  to 
the  Duke  of  Berry,  his  brother,  the  Dauphin's  third  son,  in  that 
same  manner  :  and  in  case  that  duke  also  die,  or  happen  to 
succeed  to  the  crown  of  France,  in  that  case  I  call  to  the  suc- 
cession of  Spain  the  Archduke,  second  son  of  the  Emperor, 
my  uncle,  excluding  for  that  same  reason  of  the  peace  of 
Europe,  and  of  my  subjects,  the  Emperor's  eldest  son ;  and  if 
the  said  Archduke  happen  also  to  die,  in  that  case  I  call  to  the 
succession  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  and  his  children.  And  it  is  my 
will  that  this  be  executed  by  all  my  vassals,  as  I  order  them, 
so  that  a  monarchy  founded  by  my  fathers  with  so  much  glory 
shall  not  be  dismembered  or  diminished  in  any  manner. 

On  November  i,  1700,  the  Spanish  ministers  con- 
veyed the  news  to  Louis  XIV  that  "This  day,  about 
three  of  the  clock  in  the  afternoon,  God  called  (no  doubt 
to  partake  of  his  glory)  the  soul  of  King  Don  Carlos  II 
our  lord."  Upon  opening  the  king's  will  they  had  dis- 
covered that  the  duke  of  Anjou  was  appointed  his  heir, 
and  so  felt  it  their  duty  to  give  the  king  of  France  first 
notice  of  its  contents.  Louis  replied  to  the  Spanish 
council  of  ministers  in  the  following  letter. 

Most  High,  most  Mighty,  and  most  Excellent  Princess, 
our  much  beloved  good  Sister  and  Cousin,  most  Dear  and 


Reconstruction  of  Europe  at  Utrecht  45 

Well-beloved  Cousins  and  Chief  Counselors,  established  for  the  20.  Louis 
universal  governments  of  the  States  depending  on  the  crown  of  XlV's  letter 
Spain.  We  have  received  the  letter  signed  by  Your  Majesty  and  heritage  of 
yourselves  written  the  first  of  this  month,  delivered  to  us  by  the  the  Spanich 
Marquis  De  Castel  dos  Rios,  ambassador  of  the  most  High  and  f^  the^^ame 
Mighty,  and  most  Excellent  Prince,  our  most  dear  and  most  be-  of  his  grand- 
loved  good  Brother  and  Cousin,  Charles  the  Second,  king  of  Spain,  son  (Novem- 
r     1  ^  .u  X.         A  •..   J  .  !  ber  12,  1700) 

of  glorious  memory ;  and  the  same  ambassador  remitted  to  us  at 

the  same  time  the  copy  of  the  Will  made  by  the  deceased  king 
his  master,  containing  the  order  of  the  heirs  which  he  calls  to  the 
succession  of  his  kingdoms  and  States,  and  the  prudent  provision 
he  has  made  for  the  administration  of  the  government  of  the  king- 
dom till  the  arrival,  and  during  the  minority,  of  his  successor. 

The  sensible  grief  which  we  feel  for  the  loss  of  a  prince, 
whom  his  excellent  qualities  and  the  strict  ties  of  blood 
rendered  most  dear  to  us,  is  infinitely  increased  by  the  proofs 
which  he  gave  us  at  his  death,  of  his  justice  and  love  for  his 
faithful  subjects,  and  the  desire  he  showed  to  maintain,  after 
his  death,  the  general  quiet  of  all  Europe,  and  the  happiness 
of  his  kingdoms.  We  will  on  our  part  contribute  to  the  one  and 
the  other,  answering  the  entire  confidence  he  always  reposed 
in  us,  conforming  ourselves  entirely  to  his  intentions  expressed 
in  the  articles  of  the  Will  which  Your  Majesty  and  you  have 
sent  us.  All  our  care  henceforth  will  be  to  raise,  by  an  invio- 
lable and  most  strict  correspondence,  the  Spanish  Monarchy  to 
the  highest  pitch  of  grandeur  it  has  ever  arrived  at.  We  accept, 
in  favor  of  our  Grandson,  the  Duke  of  Anjou,  the  W^ill  of  the 
deceased  Catholic  king;  our  only  son  the  Dauphin  accepts  it 
also,  quitting,  without  any  reluctance,  the  just  rights  of  the 
deceased  queen,  his  Mother,  and  our  dear  spouse,  as  well  as 
those  of  the  deceased  queen,  our  most  honored  lady  and  mother, 
indisputably  acknowledged  by  the  opinion  of  the  several  min- 
isters of  State  and  Justice,  consulted  by  the  deceased  king  of 
Spain.  Far  from  reserving  to  himself  any  part  of  the  monarchy, 
he  sacrifices  his  own  interest  to  the  desire  of  reestablishing 
the  ancient  luster  of  a  crown,  which  the  Will  of  the  deceased 
Catholic  king  and  the  voice  of  his  people  have  unanimously 
given  to  our  Grandson. 


46  Readings  in  Modern  European  History 

Instructions         We  will  cause  the  Duke  of  Anjou  immediately  to  depart,  in 
given  by  order  that  he  may  the  sooner  give  his  subjects  the  satisfaction 

Louis  XIV  ^  .    .  ...  ,  , ,  11,^,1 

to  the  new  of  receivmg  a  king,  smce  they  are  so  well  persuadea  that  God 
king  of  Spain  has  called  him  to  your  throne.  His  first  duty  ought  to  be,  to 
cause  Virtue,  Justice,  and  Religion  to  reign  with  him,  and 
wholly  to  apply  himself  to  the  happiness  of  his  people,  to 
raise  and  maintain  the  grandeur  of  so  mighty  a  monarchy,  to 
choose  always,  and  reward  those  whom  he  shall  find  in  a 
nation  so  strong  and  wise,  capable  of  serving  him  in  his 
councils,  in  his  armies,  and  in  the  different  employments  of 
the  Church  and  State.  We  will  instruct  him  farther  in  what  he 
owes  to  his  subjects  so  inviolably  devoted  to  their  king,  and 
what  to  his  own  proper  glory.  We  shall  exhort  him  to  remem- 
ber his  birth,  to  preserve  the  love  of  his  country,  but,  above 
all,  to  maintain  forever  that  peace  and  perfect  good  under- 
standing so  necessary  to  the  common  happiness  of  our  subjects 
and  his  own,  which  has  always  been  the  principal  object  of 
our  wishes  :  and  if  the  misfortunes  of  past  conjunctures  have 
hindered  us  from  making  it  appear,  we  are  persuaded  that  this 
great  event  will  alter  the  state  of  things  in  such  a  way,  that  each 
day  will  produce  hereafter  new  occasions  to  show  our  great 
esteem  and  particular  good  will  to  the  whole  Spanish  nation. 
In  the  meantime,  most  High  and  Mighty,  and  most  Excel- 
lent Princess,  our  dear  and  entirely  beloved  good  Sister  and 
Cousin,  We  pray  God,  the  Author  of  all  Consolation,  to  give 
Your  Majesty  needful  Comfort  in  Your  just  Affliction.  And 
we  assure  You,  most  Dear  and  Well-beloved  Cousins  and 
prime  Counselors,  appointed  for  the  Regency  of  Spain,  of  the 
particular  Regard  and  Affection  We  have  for  You. 
FoNTAiNEBLEAU,  November  12,  1700 

The  reasons  for  forming  the  grand  alliance  of  Euro- 
pean powers  against  Louis  XIV  in  1701  are  clearly  set 
forth  in  the  preamble  to  the  document. 

Whereas  Charles  II  King  of  Spain,  of  most  glorious  memory, 
being  not  long  since  dead  without  issue,  his  sacred  Imperial 
Majesty   has  claimed   the    succession    in    the    kingdoms   and 


Reconstnictioji  of  Europe  at  UU'ccJit  4y 

provinces  of  the  deceased  king  as  lawfully  belonging  to  his  21.  Preamble 

august  family,  but  the  Most  Christian  King,  aiming  at  the  same  *° ''i^®  Grand 

.        r      ,  .  1  ,      T^   1        r  T   ■  ^  ^^        Alliance  con- 

succession  for  his  grandson,  the  Duke  ot  Anjou,  and  pretendmg  eluded  by  the 

that  a  right  did  accrue  to  him  by  a  certain  Will  of  the  deceased  Emperor, 

king,  has  usurped  the  possession  of  the  entire  inheritance  or  anrthe"^^*^' 

Spanish  monarchy  for  the  aforesaid  Duke  of  Anjou  and  invaded  Dutch 

by  his  arms  the  provinces  of  the  Spanish  Low  Countries  and 

the  duchy  of  Milan,  has  a  fleet  ready  fitted  in  the  port  of 

Cadiz,  has  sent  several  ships  of  war  to  the  Spanish  West  Indies, 

and  by  this  and  many  other  ways  the  kingdoms  of  France  and 

Spain  are  so  closely  united  and  cemented  that  they  may  seem 

henceforward  not  to  be  otherwise  considered  than  as  one  and 

the  same  kingdom. 

So  that  it  sufficiently  appears,  unless  timely  care  be  taken, 
that  his  Imperial  Majesty  will  be  destitute  of  all  hopes  of  ever 
receiving  satisfaction  in  his  pretension ;  the  Holy  Roman  Em- 
pire will  lose  its  rights  in  the  fiefs  belonging  to  it  in  Italy  and 
the  Spanish  Netherlands  ;  the  free  intercourse  or  Navigation 
and  Commerce  which  the  English  and  Dutch  have  in  the 
Mediterranean,  the  Indies,  and  other  places  will  be  utterly 
destroyed ;  and  the  United  Provinces  will  be  deprived  of  the 
security  which  they  enjoyed  in  the  provinces  of  Spanish  Nether- 
lands lying  between  them  and  the  French,  which  is  commonly 
called  a  Barrier ;  lastly,  that  the  French  and  Spaniards,  being 
thus  united,  will  within  a  short  time  become  so  formidable  to 
all  that  they  may  easily  assume  to  themselves  the  dominion 
over  all  Europe. 

And  therefore  by  this  way  of  proceeding  of  the  Most  Chris- 
tian King,  his  Imperial  Majesty  was  brought  under  a  necessity 
of  sending  an  army  for  the  preservation  as  well  of  his  own 
private  interests  as  the  fiefs  of  the  empire ;  the  king  of  Great 
Britain  has  thought  it  requisite  to  send  his  forces  to  the  assist- 
ance of  the  States  General,  whose  affairs  are  in  the  same 
condition  as  if  they  were  actually  invaded ;  and  the  said 
States,  whose  frontiers  lie  in  a  manner  exposed  on  all  sides 
by  the  breaking  and  taking  away  of  that  fence  commonly 
called  a  Barrier,  which  screened  them  from  the  neighborhood 
of  the  French,  are  forced  to  do  all  those  things  for  the  safety 


48  Readings  1)1  Modern  European  History 

and  defense  of  their  commonwealth  which  they  should  and 
could  do  if  they  were  in  a  war.  And  whereas  so  dubious  a 
posture  of  their  affairs  is  more  dangerous  than  a  war  itself,  and 
that  France  and  Spain  take  advantage  of  this  state  of  their 
affairs  to  make  a  stronger  and  firmer  union  between  them- 
selves for  oppressing  the  liberty  of  Europe  and  taking  away 
freedom  of  commerce  : 

These  reasons  inducing  his  sacred  Imperial  Majesty,  his  sa- 
cred Royal  Majesty  of  Great  Britain,  and  the  High  and  Mighty 
Lords  of  the  States  General  of  the  United  Provinces  to  obviate 
so  great  evils  as  might  arise  from  thence,  and,  desiring  so  much 
as  lies  within  their  power  to  apply  remedies  thereto,  have  thought 
a  strict  conjunction  and  alliance  between  themselves  necessary 
for  repelling  the  greatness  of  the  common  danger. 

The  stern  realities  of  the  long  and  terrible  War  of  the 
Spanish  Succession  are  shown  in  this  letter  of  the  duke 
of  Marlborough  in  which  he  reports  to  the  English 
ministry  his  victory  over  the  allied  French  and  Bava- 
rians at  Hochstadt  and  Blenheim  on  the  Danube  below 
Ulm,  August  13,  1704. 

22.  Letter  of        Sir :   I  gave  you  an  Account  on  Sunday  last  of  the  Situation 

the  duke  of     ^yg  were  then  in,  and  that  we  expected  to  hear  the  Enemy 
Marlborough  ,  ,  ,      -r^        ,  t        •  •  ^  i    -r>  • 

describing       would  pass  the  Danube  at  Lawmgen,  m  order  to  attack  Prmce 

the  battle  of    Eugene  [the  Emperor's  general]  at  eleven  of  the  Clock  that 
Blenhefm''      ^'ight.    We  had  an  Express  from  him,  that  the  Enemy  were 
(August  13,     come,  and  desiring  he  might  be  reinforced  as  soon  as  possible. 
1704)  Whereupon  I  order'd  my  Brother  Churchil  to  advance  at  one 

of  the  Clock  in  the  morning  with  his  two  Battalions,  and  by 
three  the  whole  Army  was  in  motion  ;  For  the  greater  Expe- 
dition, I  order'd  part  of  the  Troops  to  pass  over  the  Danube, 
and  follow  the  March  of  the  twenty  Battalions  ;  And  with 
most  of  the  Horse  and  the  Foot  of  the  First  Line,  I  passed 
the  Lech  at  Rain,  and  came  over  the  Danube  at  Donawert. 
So  that  we  all  join'd  the  prince  that  night,  intending  to 
advance  and  take  this  Camp  at  Hochstet :  In  order  whereto 
we  went  out  early  on  Tuesday  with  forty  Squadrons  to  view 


Reconst7'uctioii  of  Europe  at  Utrecht  49 

the   Ground,  but  found    the    Enemy  had    already  possessed 
themselves  of  it. 

Whereupon  we  resolved  to  attack  them,  and  accordingly 
we  marched  between  three  and  four  yesterday  morning  from 
the  Camp  at  Munster,  leaving  all  our  Tents  standing.  About 
six  we  came  in  view  of  the  Enemy,  who,  we  found,  did  not 
expect  so  early  an  Onset.  The  Cannon  began  to  play  about 
half  an  Hour  after  eight ;  They  formed  themselves  in  two 
Bodies,  the  Elector  with  Monsieur  Marsin  and  their  Troops 
on  our  Right,  and  Monsieur  de  Tallard  with  all  his  on  our 
Left;  Which  last  fell  to  my  Share;  They  had  two  Rivulets, 
besides  a  Morass  before  them  ;  Which  we  were  obliged  to  pass 
over  in  their  View,  and  Prince  Eugene  was  forced  to  take  a 
great  Compass  to  come  to  the  Enemy  :  So  that  it  was  one  of 
the  Clock  before  the  Battle  began.  It  lasted  with  great  Vigour 
till  Sun-set,  when  the  Enemy  were  obliged  to  retire,  and  by 
the  Blessing  of  God  we  obtained  a  Compleat  Victory. 

We  have  cut  off  great  Numbers  of  them,  as  well  in  the  Many  French 
Action,  as  in  the  Retreat ;   Besides,  upwards  of  twenty  Squad-  ^^*^^?^°"^ 
rons  of  the  French,  which  I  push'd  into  the  Danube,  where  Danube 
we  saw  the  greatest  part  of  them  perish  ;    Monsieur  Tallard, 
with  several  of  his  General  Officers,  being  taken  Prisoners  at 
the  same  time.    And  in  the  Village  of  Blenheim,  which  the 
Enemy  had  intrenched  and  fortified,  and  where  they  made 
the  greatest  Opposition,  I  obliged  twenty-six  entire  Battalions, 
and  twelve  Squadrons  of  Dragoons,  to  surrender  themselves 
Prisoners  at  Discretion.    We  took  likewise  all  their  Tents  stand- 
ing, with  their  Cannon  and  Ammunition,  as  also  a  great  number 
of  Standards,  Kettle-Drums,  and   Colors   in  the  Action ;    So 
that  I  reckon  the  greatest  part  of  Monsieur  Tallard 's  Army  is 
taken  or  destroyed. 

The  Bravery  of  all  our  Troops  on  this  occasion  cannot  be 
expressed,  the  Generals,  as  well  as  the  Officers  and  Soldiers, 
behaving  themselves  with  the  greatest  Courage  and  Resolution. 
The  Horse  and  Dragoons  were  obliged  to  charge  four  or  five 
several  times.  The  Elector  and  Monsieur  de  Marsin  were  so 
advantageously  posted,  that  Prince  Eugene  could  make  no 
Impression  on  them,  till  the  third  Attack,  near  seven  at  night. 


50  Rcadifigs  in  Modern  European  History 

when  he  made  a  great  Slaughter  of  them.  But  being  near  a 
Wood-side,  a  great  Body  of  Bavarians  retired  into  it,  and  the 
rest  of  that  Army  retreated  towards  Lawingen,  it  being  too 
late,  and  the  Troops  too  much  tired  to  pursue  them  far. 
Praise  of  his  I  cannot  Say  too  much  in  praise  of  that  Prince's  good  Con- 
ally,  Prince    (j^ct,  and  the  Bravery  of  his  Troops  on  this  Occasion.    You 

EufifGnG  of 

Savoy  ^vill  please  to  lay  this  before  her  Majesty  and  his  Royal  High- 

ness, to  whom  I  send  my  Lord  Tunbridge  with  the  good  News. 
I  pray  you  likewise  inform  yourself,  and  let  me  know  her 
Majesty's  Pleasure,  as  well  relating  to  Monsieur  Tallard  and 
the  other  General  Officers,  as  for  the  Disposal  of  near  one 
thousand  two  hundred  other  Officers,  and  between  eight  and 
nine  thousand  Common  Soldiers,  who  being  all  made  Prisoners 
by  her  Majesty's  Troops,  are  entirely  at  her  Disposal :  But  as 
the  Charge  of  subsisting  these  Officers  and  Men  must  be  very 
great,  I  presume  her  Majesty  will  be  inclined  that  they  be 
exchanged  for  any  other  Prisoners  that  offer. 

I  should  likevWse  be  glad  to  receive  her  Majesty's  Directions 
for  the  Disposal  of  the  Standards  and  Colors,  whereof  I  have 
not  yet  the  Number,  but  guess  there  cannot  be  less  than  one 
hundred,  which  is  more  than  has  been  taken  in  any  Battle 
these  many  Years. 

You  will  easily  believe  that,  in  so  long  and  vigorous  an 
Action,  the  English,  who  had  so  great  a  Share  in  it,  must 
have  suffered  as  well  in  Officers  as  Men ;  But  I  have  not  the 
particulars.    I  am  g-^. 

Your  most  obedient, 
From  the  Camp  at  Hochstet  Humble  Servant, 

August  the  4th  [old  style  dating],  1704  MARLBOROUGH 

Section  10.    Peace  of  Utrec/it,  17^3 

In  a  message  to  Parliament  in  the  year  17 12  Queen 
Anne  reported  the  progress  that  had  been  made  toward 
fixing  the  terms  of  peace. 
My  Lords  and  Gentloiicn  : 

The  making  Peace  and  War  is  the  undoubted  Prerogative 
of  the  Crown  ;  yet  such  is  the  just  Confidence  I  place  in  you, 


Recotistrnction  of  Europe  at  Utrecht  5  i 

that  at  the  Opening  of  this  Session  I  acquainted  3^ou,  That  a  23.  Queen 

Negotiation  for  a  General  Peace  was  begun  :  and  afterwards,  ^^^^'^  ac- 

° ,  T  •      1  •  1      rr.  r  couut  of  the 

by  Messages,  I  promised  to  communicate  to  you  the  Terms  of  terms  of  the 

Peace,  before  the  same  should  be  concluded.  Treaty  of 

In  pursuance  of  that  Promise,  I  now  come  to  let  you  know  ^*^®^'^* 
upon  what  Terms  a  General  Peace  may  be  made. 

I  need  not  mention  the  Difficulties  which  arise  from  the 
very  Nature  of  this  Affair  ;  and  it  is  but  too  apparent  that 
these  Difficulties  have  been  increased  by  other  Obstructions, 
artfully  contrived  to  hinder  this  great  and  good  Work. 

Nothing,  however,  has  moved  me  from  steadily  pursuing,  in 
the  first  Place,  the  true  Interest  of  my  own  Kingdoms ;  and  I 
have  not  omitted  anything  which  might  procure  to  our  Allies 
what  is  due  to  them  by  Treaties,  and  what  is  necessary  for  their 
Security. 

The  Assuring  of  the  Protestant  Succession,  as  by  Law  estab-  Assuring  of 
lished,  in  the  House  of  Hanover,  to  these  Kingdoms,  being  ^}^  Protestant 

'  ^-r  .      ,         „  "  '  Succession 

what  I  have  nearest  at  Heart,  particular  Care  is  taken,  not 
only  to  have  that  acknowledged  in  the  strongest  Terms,  but  to 
have  an  additional  Security,  by  the  Removal  of  that  Person 
out  of  the  Dominions  of  France,  who  has  pretended  to  disturb 
this  Settlement. 

The  Apprehension  that  Spain  and  the  West  Indies  might  be  Danger  of 
united  to  France  was  the  chief  Inducement  to  begin  this  War  ;  ""^°"  ^' 

^  tween  France 


dominions 


and  the  effectual  Preventing  of  such  an  Union  was  the  Princi-  and  the 
pie  I  laid  down  at  the  Commencement  of  this  Treaty.  Spanish 

Former  Examples,  and  the  Late  Negotiations,  sufficiently 
show  how  difficult  it  is  to  find  Means  to  accomplish  this  Work. 
I  would  not  content  myself  with  such  as  are  speculative,  or 
depend  on  Treaties  only ;  I  insisted  on  what  is  solid,  and  to 
have  at  Hand  the  Power  of  executing  what  should  be  agreed. 

I  can,  therefore,  now  tell  you.  That  France  at  last  is  brought 
to  offer,  that  the  Duke  of  Anjou  shall,  for  himself  and  his 
Descendants,  renounce  forever  all  Claim  to  the  Crown  of  France. 
And  that  this  important  Article  may  be  exposed  to  no  Hazard, 
the  Performance  is  to  accompany  the  Promise.   .   .   . 

France  and  Spain  are  now  more  effectually  divided  than 
ever.    And  thus,  by  the  Blessing  of  God,  w^ill  a  real  Balance  of 


52  Rcadijigs  in  Modern  European  History 

Power  be  fixed  in  Europe,  and  remain  liable  to  as  few  Acci- 
dents as  Human  Affairs  can  be  exempted  from.  .  .  . 
Cessions  in        Our  Interest  is  so  deeply  concerned  in  the  Trade  of  North 
North  America,  that  I  have  used  my  utmost  Endeavours  to  adjust 

England  that  x'\rticle  in  the  most  beneficial  Manner.  France  consents 
to  restore  to  us  the  whole  Bay  and  Streights  of  Hudson ;  to 
deliver  up  the  Island  of  Newfoundland,  with  Placentia,  and 
to  make  an  absolute  Cession  of  Annapolis,  with  the  rest  of 
Nova  Scotia  or  Acadia. 

The  Safety  of  our  Home  Trade  will  be  better  provided  for 
by  the  Demolition  of  Dunkirk. 
Gibraltar  Our   Mediterranean  Trade,  and   the   British   Interest  and 

Influence  in  those  Parts,  will  be  secured  by  the  Possession  of 
Gibraltar  and  Port  Mahon,  with  the  whole  Island  of  Minorca, 
which  are  offered  to  remain  in  my  Hands. 
Trading  The  Trade  to  Spain  and  to  the  West-Indies  may  in  general 

privileges  ^^  settled,  as  it  was  in  the  Time  of  the  late  King  of  Spain, 
Charles  II,  and  a  particular  Provision  be  made.  That  all  Advan- 
tages, Rights,  or  Privileges,  which  have  been  granted,  or  which 
may  hereafter  be  granted,  by  Spain  to  any  other  Nation,  shall 
be  in  like  manner  granted  to  the  Subjects  of  Great  Britain. 
Slave  trade  But  the  Part  which  we  have  born  in  the  Prosecution  of  this 
War,  intitling  us  to  some  Distinction  in  the  Terms  of  Peace, 
I  have  insisted  and  obtained,  That  the  Asiento,^  or  Contract 
for  furnishing  the  Spanish  West-Indies  with  Negroes,  shall  be 
made  with  us  for  the  Term  of.  Thirty  Years,  in  the  same 
Manner  as  it  has  been  enjoyed  by  the  French  for  these  Ten 
Years  past. 
Interests  of  I  have  not  taken  upon  me  to  determine  the  Interest  of  our 
England's  Confederates;  these  must  be  adjusted  in  the  Congress  at 
Utrecht,  where  my  best  Endeavours  shall  be  employed,  as 
they  have  hitherto  been,  to  procure  to  every  one  of  them  all 
just  and  reasonable  Satisfaction.  In  the  mean  time,  I  think  it 
proper  to  acquaint  you,  that  France  offers  to  make  the  Rhine 
the  Barrier  of  the  Empire ;  to  yield  Brisac,  the  Fort  of  Kehl 
and  Landau  ;  and  to  raze  all  Fortresses,  both  on  the  other  side 
of  the  Rhine,  and  in  that  River.  .  .  . 
1  See  below,  p.  75. 


Recojistniction  of  Europe  at  Utrecht  53 

As  to  the  Protestant  Interest  in  Germany,  there  will  be,  on 
the  Part  of  France,  no  Objection  to  the  Resettling  thereof  on 
the  Foot  of  the  Treaty  of  Westphalia. 

The  Spanish  Low  Countries  may  go  to  His  Imperial  Majesty  ; 
the  Kingdoms  of  Naples  and  Sardinia,  the  Dutchy  of  Milan, 
and  the  Places  belonging  to  Spain  on  the  Coast  of  Tuscany, 
may  likewise  be  yielded  by  the  Treaty  of  Peace  to  the  Emperor. 

As  to  the  Kingdom  of  Sicily,  tho'  there  remains  no  Dispute 
concerning  the  Cession  of  it  by  the  Duke  of  Anjou,  yet  the 
Disposition  thereof  is  not  yet  determined. 

The  Interests  of  the  States  General,  with  respect  to  Com- 
merce, are  agreed  to,  as  they  have  been  demanded  by  their 
own  Ministers,  with  the  Exception  only  of  some  very  few  Species 
of  Merchandize.  .  .  . 

Those  of  the  king  of  Prussia  are  such  as,  I  hope,  will  admit 
of  little  difficulty  on  the  part  of  France ;  and  my  endeavours 
shall  not  be  wanting  to  procure  all  I  am  able  to  so  good  an 
ally.  .  .  . 

France  has  consented  that  the  Elector  Palatine  shall  con- 
tinue his  present  rank  among  the  Electors,  and  remain  in  pos- 
session of  the  Upper  Palatinate. 

The  Electoral  dignity  is  likewise  acknowledged  in  the  House 
of  Hanover,  according  to  the  articles  inserted,  at  that  prince's 
desire  and  my  demands. 

And  as  to  the  rest  of  the  allies,  I  make  no  doubt  of  being 
able  to  secure  their  several  interests. 

The  general  situation  in  Italy  in  the  middle  of  the 
eighteenth  century  is  well  described  by  an  English  trav- 
eler and  man  of  letters,  John  Campbell  (1708- 177 5). 

There  are  few  Countries  in  the  World  better  watered  than  24.  An  Eng- 
this  [i.e.  Italy],  in  respect  to  Springs,  Rivulets,  small  and  great  lishman's 
Lakes,  as  well  as  large  Rivers.    Thus  bountifully  dealt  with  by  oTltaly^^^"^ 
nature,  it  has  also,  from  the  Ingenuity  and  Application  of  its  about  1750 
Inhabitants,  been  esteemed  the  Mother  of  Arts  and  Commerce, 
in  respect  to  the  rest  of  Europe  ;  its  Reputation  is  still  so  high 
with  regard  to  the  first,  that  the  Tour  of  Italy  is  considered 


54  Readings  in  Modern  European  History 

as  the  necessary  Conclusion  of  a  polite  Education  ;  and  in  refer- 
ence to  the  latter,  though  the  Trade  of  Italy  is  nothing  to  what 
it  was,  yet  the  Ports  of  Genoa,  Leghorn,  Naples,  and  Venice, 
to  say  nothing  of  those  in  Sicily,  make  still  a  very  great  Figure, 
and  derive  vast  Advantages  to  the  Sovereigns  in  whose  Domin- 
ions they  are  situated.  Besides  all  this,  the  several  Countries 
of  Italy  have  such  Funds  of  natural  Riches,  and  the  People 
are  so  happy  at  improving  as  well  as  inventing  Manufactures, 
that  they  stand  in  need  only  of  some  favourable  Juncture  to 
revive  their  ancient  Spirit,  and  to  make  as  great  a  Figure  as 
their  Ancestors  did  in  comparison  with  other  Nations. 

Various  There  is  no  kind  of  Government  subsisting  in  any  Part  of 

Italian  states  Europe,  of  which  something  of  the  like  Kind  is  not  to  be  found 
in  Italy.  As  to  the  Sovereignty  of  the  Pope,  it  is  peculiar  to 
this  Country,  as  it  is  vested  in  a  spiritual  Person,  and  yet  it  is 
altogether  a  temporal  Power  exercised  as  absolutely,  and,  as  is 
generally  supposed,  with  more  Policy  than  in  any  other  Mon- 
archy. The  Dominions  of  those  two  crowned  Heads  (for  as  yet 
there  are  no  more)  that  lie  within  its  Limits,  are  those  of  his 
Sardinian  Majesty  at  one  End,  and  of  the  King  of  the  two 
Sicilies  at  the  other.  The  Dutchy  of  Milan,  once  the  largest 
and  richest  in  this  Part  of  the  World,  together  with  the  Dutchy 
of  Mantua  and  its  Dependencies,  belong  to  the  august  House 
of  Austria.  His  Imperial  Majesty  is  considered  as  one  of  the 
Italian  Powers,  not  only  in  that  Capacity  by  which  he  claims  a 
Title,  paramount  to  the  greatest  Part,  if  not  the  whole,  but 
particularly  also  as  Grand  Duke  of  Tuscany. 

Don  Carlos  The  Infant  Duke  of  Parma  is  at  length  in  Possession  of  a 

Settlement,  composed  not  only  of  that  Dutchy,  and  of  Pla- 
centia,  which  was  the  Patrimony  of  his  Ancestors  by  the 
Mother's  Side,  but  likewise  of  Guastalla. 

The  republics  His  Serene  Highness  the  Duke  of  Modena  holds  that  Dutchy 
and  Reggio,  together  also  with  the  Dutchy  of  Mirandola ;  and 
besides  these,  there  are  some  other  lesser  Princes  who  would 
take  it  ill  if  they  were  not  stiled  Sovereigns.  The  Repub- 
lick  of  Venice  is  an  unmixed  Aristocracy,  still  venerable  for 
the  Wisdom  of  its  Government,  as  heretofore  formidable  by  the 
Extent  of  its  Dominions  as  well  as  a  great  naval  Force.    The 


of  Venice 
and  Genoa 


Reconstruction  of  Europe  at  Utrecht  5  5 

Republick  of  Genoa  is  an  Aristocracy  also,  but  not  quite  so 
pure  as  that  of  Venice. 

The  Swiss  Cantons,  the  Grisons,  their  Allies,  and  the  City  of 
Geneva,  are  so  many  different  Republicks,  each  having  its 
particular  Form  of  Government,  but  owing  their  Strength  to 
their  Confederacy,  which  renders  them  truly  great  and  for- 
midable. There  are,  besides  these,  two  free  States,  the  Domin- 
ions of  which  are  surrounded  by  those  of  Sovereign  Princes,  to 
whom,  notwithstanding,  they  owe  no  Obedience,  or  even  Hom- 
age ;  the  first  of  which  is  the  Commonwealth  of  Lucca  in  the 
Neighbourhood  of  Tuscany,  and  the  latter  the  Republick  of 
St.  Marino  in  the  Midst  of  the  Pope's  Territories. 

Such  is  the  Distribution  of  Power  in  Italy ;  and  in  the  sup- 
porting this  Distribution,  and  maintaining  each  of  these  Princes 
and  States  in  their  respective  Rights,  so  as  to  prevent  their 
encroaching  upon  each  other,  or  being  overborn  by  a  foreign 
Force,  consists  the  Preservation  of  the  Ballance  in  Italy,  a 
Term  very  significant  in  Policy,  and  originally  invented  here, 
where  it  is  perfectly  well  understood,  though  not  always  prac- 
ticed ;  for  if  it  were,  the  Powers  in  Italy  need  not  the  Assist- 
ance of  Foreigners  to  keep  it  steady,  since  how  small  or  weak 
soever  some  of  them  may  appear  when  considered  separately, 
yet  the  Conjunction  of  their  Forces  would  be  at  all  Times 
found  sufficient  to  defend  this  Country  from  Invasions.  .  .  . 

But  after  all,  notwithstanding  that  the  Ballance  of  Power  is  Foreign  inter 
the  common  Interest  of  all  these  Princes  and  States,  notwith-  mention  in 
standing  that  they  know  this  better  than  Strangers  possibly  can     ^  ^ 
do,  and  are  as  well  satisfied  of  it  as  can  be  wished,  yet  so  it  is, 
that  with  all  their  Penetration  and  Prudence,  some  or  other  of 
them  are  continually  deluded  by  specious  Views  and  flattering 
Promises,  to  act  against  what  they  are  convinced  is  their  true 
and  great  Interest,  which  would  certainly  appear  a  Thing  mon- 
strous and  absurd,  if  it  happened  nowhere  but  in  Italy,  and 
must  on  the  contrary  appear  very  natural  and  probable  to  any 
impartial  Politician  who  is  well  acquainted  with  the  Nature  of 
Mankind,  and  who  is  sensible  that,  notwithstanding  all  their 
Circumspection  and  Gravity,  the  Inhabitants  of  Italy  are  Men 
like  their  Neighbours,  Men  having  the  same  or  perhaps  stronger 


56  Readings  m  Modern  European  History 

Passions,  and  consequently  very  capable  of  being  wrought  upon 
when  the  Hopes  of  gratifying  those  Passions  are  placed  in  a 
full,  though  at  the  same  Time  in  a  fallacious,  Light.  In  their 
Writings  and  in  their  Discourses,  you  see  the  Benefits  of  the 
Ballance  perfectly  explained,  and  the  Errors  of  their  Ancestors 
in  calling  now  the  French,  then  the  Spaniards,  often  the  Ger- 
mans, into  Italy,  very  judiciously  exploded,  while  the  same 
thing  is  practised  by  themselves  to  this  very  Day.  Nor  can  the 
strongest  Foresight  Discern  when  this  Infatuation  will  cease. 
Predominat-  The  Truth  of  the  Mattar  is,  that  the  Influence  of  the  two 
ing  influence  gj-^^t  Houses  of  Austria  and  Bourbon  have  in  our  Days  chiefly 
and  Spain  contributed  to  keep  the  Scale  in  almost  constant  Motion,  and 
whenever  there  has  been  any  little  Recess,  it  has  lasted  no 
longer  than  till  the  silent  Intrigues  of  the  Partisans  of  one  or 
other  of  these  Houses  have  been  able  to  pave  the  Way  for  new 
Disputes.  Sometimes  it  has  been  thought  for  the  Interest  of 
Italy  to  rid  themselves  entirely  of  one  House  by  the  Assistance 
of  the  other,  and  when  this  has  been  in  a  good  Measure  ef- 
fected at  the  Expence  of  much  Bloodshed  and  Confusion, 
Experience  has  shewn  them  their  Mistake,  in  consequence  of 
which  they  have  entered  into  a  new  War  to  set  Things  right 
again.  Other  Nations,  more  at  a  Distance,  find  themselves 
strongly  interested  in  the  Preservation  of  the  Ballance  from  a 
Variety  of  Motives,  but  principally  from  these  two ;  first,  be- 
cause their  trade  in  the  Mediterranean  must  suffer  exceedingly 
if  the  Ballance  in  Italy  be  destroyed ;  and  secondly,  this  Bal- 
lance is  attended  to,  because  a  Diversion  on  the  Side  of  Italy 
proves  often  a  Thing  of  the  last  Consequence  in  the  Case  of  a 
general  War,  the  very  Apprehension  of  which  keeps  a  very 
considerable  Part  of  the  Forces  of  each  of  the  contending 
Houses  from  being  employed  where  they  might  be  of  most  Prej- 
udice to  those  Powers,  who  for  this  Reason  make  the  Ballance 
of  Italy  so  much  their  Concern. 


CHAPTER  IV 

RUSSIA  AND  PRUSSIA  BECOME  EUROPEAN  POWERS 

Section  II.    Peter  the  Great  plans  to  make 
Russia  a  European  Power 

Peter  the  Great,  in  his  anxiety  to  reform  Russia  and 
make  it  a  great  power,  visited  the  western  regions  him- 
self, imported  miUtary  leaders,  artisans,  and  scientists, 
and  did  much  to  remodel  Russian  customs.  One  of  the 
most  satisfactory  accounts  of  the  Tsar's  visit  to  England 
is  given  by  the  sagacious  historian.  Bishop  Burnet. 

Imentioned  in  therelationof  the  former  year  [1698]  the  Tsar's  25.  Bishop 
coming  out  of  his  own  country ;  on  which  I  will  now  enlarge.  Burnet's 
He  came  this  winter  over  to  England  and  stayed  some  months  oTpeter  the 
among  us.    I  waited  often  on  him,  and  was  ordered  both  by  Great  in 
the  king  and  the  archbishop  and  bishops  to  attend  upon  him  ^^ 
and  to  offer  him  such  informations  of  our  religion  and  constitu- 
tion as  he  was  willing  to  receive.    I  had  good  interpreters,  so 
I  had  much  free  discourse  with  him.    He  is  a  man  of  a  very 
hot  temper,  soon  inflamed  and  very  brutal  in  his  passion.    He 
raises  his  natural  heat  by  drinking  much  brandy,  which  he  recti- 
fies himself  with  great  application.    He  is  subject  to  convulsive 
motions  all  over  his  body,  and  his  head  seems  to  be  affected 
with  these.    He  wants  not  capacity,  and  has  a  larger  measure  of 
knowledge  than  might  be  expected  from  his  education,  which 
was  very  indifferent.    A  want  of  judgment,  with  an  instability 
of  temper,  appear  in  him  too  often  and  too  evidently. 

He  is  mechanically  turned,  and  seems  designed  by  nature  The  Tsar's 
rather  to  be  a  ship  carpenter  than  a  great  prince.   This  was  interest  m 

1  •       1  •    r  1  1  •  1-11  11  TT  1       shipbuilding 

his  chief  study  and  exercise  while  he  stayed  here.    He  wrought 

57 


58 


Readings  i7i  Modern  European  History 


autocracy 


much  with  his  own  hands  and  made  all  about  him  work  at 
the  models  of  ships.  He  told  me  he  designed  a  great  fleet  at 
Azuph  [i.e.  Azov]  and  with  it  to  attack  the  Turkish  empire. 
But  he  did  not  seem  capable  of  conducting  so  great  a  design, 
though  his  conduct  in  his  wars  since  this  has  discovered  a 
greater  genius  in  him  than  appeared  at  this  time. 

He  was  desirous  to  understand  our  doctrine,  but  he  did  not 
seem  disposed  to  mend  matters  in  Moscovy.  He  was,  indeed, 
resolved  to  encourage  learning  and  to  polish  his  people  by 
sending  some  of  them  to  travel  in  other  countries  and  to  draw 
strangers  to  come  and  live  among  them.  He  seemed  apprehen- 
sive still  [i.e.  ever]  of  his  sister's  [i.e.  the  Princess  Sophia's] 
intrigues.  There  was  a  mixture  both  of  passion  and  severity  in 
his  temper.  He  is  resolute,  but  understands  little  of  war,  and 
seemed  not  at  all  inquisitive  that  way. 
Burnet's  re-  After  I  had  secn  him  often,  and  had  conversed  much  with 

^ctions  upon  y^:^       j  ^^^j^  ^^^  ^^^  ^^^j.^  ^j^g  depth  of  the  providence  of 

X\.ussi3.n 

God  that  had  raised  up  such  a  furious  man  to  so  absolute  an 
authority  over  so  great  a  part  of  the  world.  David,  consider- 
ing the  great  things  God  had  made  for  the  use  of  man,  broke 
out  into  the  meditation,  "  What  is  man,  that  thou  art  so  mind- 
ful of  him?  "  But  here  there  is  an  occasion  for  reversing  these 
words,  since  man  seems  a  very  contemptible  thing  in  the  sight 
of  God,  while  such  a  person  as  the  Tsar  has  such  multitudes 
put,  as  it  were,  under  his  feet,  exposed  to  his  restless  jealousy 
and  savage  temper. 

He  went  from  hence  to  the  court  of  Vienna,  where  he.  pur- 
posed to  have  stayed  some  time,  but  he  was  called  home  sooner 
than  he  had  intended  upon  a  discovery,  or  a  suspicion,  of 
intrigues  managed  by  his  sister.  The  strangers,  to  whom  he 
trusted  most,  were  so  true  to  him  that  those  designs  were 
crushed  before  he  came  back.  But  on  this  occasion  he  let 
loose  his  fury  on  all  whom  he  suspected.  Some  hundreds  of 
them  were  hanged  all  around  Moscow,  and  it  was  said  that  he 
cut  off  many  heads  with  his  own  hand  ;  and  so  far  was  he  from 
relenting  or  showing  any  sort  of  tenderness  that  he  seemed 
delighted  with  it.  How  long  he  is  to  be  the  scourge  of  that 
nation  God  only  knows. 


Peter's  venge 
ance  upon 
tiie  rebels 


Russia  and  Pjiissia  become  Europe a7i  Poivers      59 

As  Burnet  mentions,  the  old  and  mutinous  Musco- 
vite guard  —  the  Streltsi  (or  Strelitz,  as  it  is  sometimes 
less  accurately  written)  —  took  occasion  during  Peter's 
absence  to  rebel.  Peter's  sister  Sophia  was  implicated, 
and  the  Tsar  hurried  home  to  make  a  cruel  investigation 
and  take  horrible  vengeance  upon  the  seditious.  An 
Austrian  secretary  of  legation,  named  Von  Korb,  who 
was  in  Moscow  on  the  Tsar's  return,  has  left  in  his 
diary  a  painful  but  probably  very  accurate  account  of 
Peter's  savage  conduct. 

How  sharp  was  the  pain,  how  great  the  indignation,  to  which  26.  An  Aus- 
the  Tsar's  Majesty  was  mightily  moved,  when  he  knew  of  the  ^^^^'^  ac- 
rebellion  of  the  Streltsi,  betraying  openly  a  mind  panting  for  peter's  way 
vengeance  !    He  was  still  tarrying  at  Vienna,  quite  full  of  the  of  dealing 
desire  of  setting  out  for  Italy ;  but,  fervid  as  was  his  curiosity  J^^^j^f 
of  rambling  abroad,  it  was,  nevertheless,  speedily  extinguished 
on  the  announcement  of  the  troubles  that  had  broken  out  in 
the  bowels  of  his  realm.    Going  immediately  to  Lefort  (almost 
the  only  person  that  he  condescended  to  treat  with  intimate 
familiarity),  he  thus  indignantly  broke  out :   ''  Tell  me,  Francis, 
son  of  James,  how  I  can  reach  Moscow  by  the  shortest  way, 
in  a  brief  space,  so  that  I  may  wreak  vengeance  on  this  great 
perfidy  of  my  people,  with  punishments  worthy  of  their  abom- 
inable crime.    Not  one  of  them  shall  escape  with  impunity. 
Around  my  royal  city,  which,  with  their  impious  eiforts,  they 
planned  to  destroy,  I  will  have  gibbets  and  gallows  set  upon 
the  walls  and  ramparts,  and  each  and  every  one  of  them  will 
I  put  to  a  direful  death."    Nor  did  he  long  delay  the  plan  for 
his  justly  excited  wrath  ;  he  took  the  quick  post,  as  his  ambas- 
sador suggested,  and  in  four  weeks'  time  he  had  got  over  about 
three  hundred  miles  without  accident,  and  arrived  the  4th  of 
September,  1698,  —  a  monarch  for  the  well  disposed,  but  an 
avenger  for  the  wicked. 

His  first  anxiety  after  his  arrival  was  about  the  rebellion, — 
in  what  it  consisted,  what  the  insurgents  meant,  who  dared  to 


6o  Readings  in  Modern  Eiiropeaii  History 

instigate  such  a  crime.  And  as  nobody  could  answer  accurately 
upon  all  points,  and  some  pleaded  their  own  ignorance,  others 
the  obstinacy  of  the  Streltsi,  he  began  to  have  suspicions  of 
everybody's  loyalty.  ...  No  day,  holy  or  profane,  were  the 
inquisitors  idle ;  every  day  was  deemed  fit  and  lawful  for  tor- 
turing. There  were  as  many  scourges  as  there  were  accused, 
and  every  inquisitor  was  a  butcher.  .  .  .  The  whole  month  of 
October  was  spent  in  lacerating  the  backs  of  culprits  with  the 
knout  and  with  flames  ;  no  day  were  those  that  were  left  alive 
exempt  from  scourging  or  scorching  ;  or  else  they  were  broken 
upon  the  w^heel,  or  driven  to  the  gibbet,  or  slain  with  the  ax.  .  .  . 
Moscow  To  prove  to  all  people  how  holy  and  inviolable  are  those 

adorned  with  ^^,^||g  qJ  ^]^g  ^^j^-y  ^yhich  the  Streltsi  rashly  meditated  scaling  in 
rebels  ^  sudden  assault,  beams  were  run  out  from  all  the  embrasures 

in  the  walls  near  the  gates,  in  each  of  which  two  rebels  were 
hanged.  This  day  beheld  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  die  that 
death.  There  are  few  cities  fortified  with  as  many  palisades  as 
Moscow  has  given  gibbets  to  her  guardian  Streltsi. 

[In  front  of  the  nunnery  where  Sophia  was  confined]  there 
were  thirty  gibbets  erected  in  a  quadrangle  shape,  from  which 
there  hung  two  hundred  and  thirty  Streltsi.  The  three  princi- 
pal ringleaders,  who  had  tendered  a  petition  to  Sophia  touch- 
ing the  administration  of  the  realm,  w^ere  hanged  close  to  the 
windows  of  that  princess,  presenting,  as  it  were,  the  petitions 
that  were  placed  in  their  hands,  so  near  that  Sophia  might 
with  ease  touch  them. 

Peter  had  a  great  number  of  foreign  oflficers  about 
him,  German,  French,  Dutch,  English,  Scotch,  in  whom 
he  placed  great  reliance.  Alexander  Gordon,  a  Scot, 
had,  after  serving  for  a  short  time  under  Louis  XIV, 
drifted  to  Russia  about  1694.  He  was  appointed  major 
general  by  the  Tsar,  of  whom  he  gives  his  impressions 
as  follows  : 

This  great  emperor  came  in  a  few  years  to  know  to  a  farthing 
the  amount  of  all  his  revenues,  as  also  how  they  were  laid  out. 


Rzissia  and  Prussia  become  Eti7'opean  Pozvers      6 1 

He  was  at  little  or  no  expense  about  his  person,  and  by  living  27.  General 
rather  like  a  private  gentleman  than  a  prince  he  saved  wholly  Gordon's 
that  great  expense  which  other  monarchs  are  at  in  supporting  of  Peter 
the  grandeur  of  their  courts.    It  was  uneasy  for  him  to  appear  the  Great 
in  majesty,  which  he  seldom  or  never  did,  but  when  absolutely 
necessary,  on  such  occasions  as  giving  audience  to  ambassadors 
or  the  like ;  so  that  he  had  all  the  pleasure  of  a  great  emperor 
and  at  the  same  time  that  of  a  private  gentleman. 

He  was  a  lover  of  company,  and  a  man  of  much  humor  and 
pleasantry,  exceedingly  facetious  and  of  vast  natural  parts.  He 
had  no  letters ;  he  could  only  read  and  write,  but  had  a  great 
regard  for  learning  and  was  at  much  pains  to  introduce  it  into 
the  country.  He  rose  early  ;  the  morning  he  gave  to  business 
till  ten  or  eleven  o'clock  at  the  farthest ;  all  the  rest  of  the 
day,  and  a  great  part  of  the  night,  to  diversion  and  pleasure. 
He  took  his  bottle  heartily,  so  must  all  the  company ;  for  when 
he  was  merry  himself  he  loved  to  see  everybody  so ;  though 
at  the  same  time  he  could  not  endure  habitual  drinkers,  for 
such  he  thought  unfit  for  business. 

When  he  paid  a  visit  to  a  friend  he  would  pass  almost  the 
whole  night,  not  caring  to  part  with  good  company  till  past 
two  o'clock  in  the  morning.  He  never  kept  guards  about  his 
person.  .  .  .  He  never  could  abide  ceremony,  but  loved  to 
be  spoke  to  frankly  and  without  reserve. 

A  French  historical  writer  of  the  first  half  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  Jean  Rousset  de  Missy,  wrote  a 
life  of  Peter  the  Great.  Although  the  author  never 
visited  Russia,  his  volumes  have  some  value,  since  he 
appears  to  have  taken  pains  to  get  reliable  information. 
He  thus  describes  the  reform  in  dress  enforced  by  Peter. 

The  Tsar  labored  at  the  reform  of  fashions,  or,  more  properly  28.  How- 
speaking,  of  dress.    Until  that  time  the  Russians  had  always  Peter  the 

1  1         J  1  •   1      ,  1       •  ,      1  ^  J       -1     Great  forced 

worn  long  beards,  which  they  cherished  and  preserved  with  j^jg  people 

much  care,  allowing  them  to  hang  down  on  their  bosoms,  to  wear 
without  even  cutting  the  moustache.  With  these  long  beards  ®®  ^™ 
they  wore  the  hair  very  short,  except  the  ecclesiastics,  who. 


62  Readings  i?i  Modern  European  History 

to  distinguish  themselves,  wore  it  very  long.  The  Tsar,  in  order 
to  reform  that  custom,  ordered  that  gentlemen,  merchants,  and 
other  subjects,  except  priests  and  peasants,  should  each  pay  a 
tax  of  one  hundred  rubles  a  year  if  they  wished  to  keep  their 
beards  ;  the  commoners  had  to  pay  one  kopeck  each.  Officials 
were  stationed  at  the  gates  of  the  towns  to  collect  that  tax, 
which  the  Russians  regarded  as  an  enormous  sin  on  the  part 
of  the  Tsar  and  as  a  thing  which  tended  to  the  abolition  of 
their  religion. 

These  insinuations,  which  came  from  the  priests,  occasioned 
the  publication  of  many  pamphlets  in  Moscow,  where  for  that 
reason  alone  the  Tsar  was  regarded  as  a  tyrant  and  a  pagan ; 
and  there  were  many  old  Russians  who,  after  having  their 
beards  shaved  off,  saved  them  preciously,  in  order  to  have 
them  placed  in  their  coffins,  fearing  that  they  would  not  be 
allowed  to  enter  heaven  without  their  beards.  As  for  the  young 
men,  they  followed  the  new  custom  with  the  more  readiness,  as 
it  made  them  appear  more  agreeable  to  the  fair  sex. 

From  the  reform  in  beards  we  may  pass  to  that  of  clothes. 
Their  garments,  like  those  of  the  Orientals,  were  very  long, 
reaching  to  the  heel.  The  Tsar  issued  an  ordinance  abolishing 
that  costume,  commanding  all  the  boyars  (nobles)  and  all  those 
who  had  positions  at  the  court  to  dress  after  the  French  fashion, 
and  likewise  to  adorn  their  clothes  with  gold  or  silver  according 
to  their  means. 

As  for  the  rest  of  the  people,  the  following  method  was 
employed.  A  suit  of  clothes  cut  according  to  the  new  fashion 
was  hung  at  the  gate  of  the  city,  with  a  decree  enjoining  upon 
all  except  peasants  to  have  their  clothes  made  on  this  model, 
under  penalty  of  being  forced  to  kneel  and  have  all  that  part 
of  their  garments  which  fell  below  the  knee  cut  off,  or  pay 
two  grives  every  time  they  entered  the  town  with  clothes  in 
the  old  style.  Since  the  guards  at  the  gates  executed  their 
duty  in  curtailing  the  garments  in  a  sportive  spirit,  the  people 
were  amused  and  readily  abandoned  their  old  dress,  espe- 
cially in  Moscow  and  its  environs,  and  in  the  towns  which  the 
Tsar  often  est  visited.  The  dress  of  the  women  was  changed, 
too.     English  hairdressing  was  substituted  for  the  caps  and 


Riissia  and  Prussia  become  European  Pozvers      63 

bonnets  hitherto  worn  ;  bodices,  stays,  and  skirts,  for  the  former 
uncergarments.  .   .  . 

The  same  ordinance  also  provided  that  in  the  future  women, 
as  well  as  men,  should  be  invited  to  entertainments,  such  as  wed- 
dings, banquets,  and  the  like,  where  both  sexes  should  mingle  in 
the  same  hall,  as  in  Holland  and  England.  It  was  likewise  added 
that  these  entertainments  should  conclude  with  concerts  and 
dances,  but  that  only  those  should  be  admitted  who  were  dressed 
in  English  costumes.  His  Majesty  set  the  example  in  all  these 
changes. 

Section  12.    Rise  of  Prussia 

The  Great  Elector  was  very  anxious  to  withdraw  his 
province  of  Prussia  from  Poland,  which  still  claimed 
sovereignty  over  it.  He  first  allied  himself  with  Sweden, 
and  defeated  the  Poles  in  the  battle  of  Warsaw  (1650). 
He  then  deserted  Sweden,  and  allied  himself  with  the 
Poles,  on  condition  that  they  should  acknowledge  his 
sovereignty  over  Prussia.  Cromwell  found  time  to  ask 
his  secretary,  John  Milton,  the  poet,  to  felicitate  the 
Great  Elector  on  his  successes. 

Alost  Illiisti'ious  Prince  ;  dearest  friend  and  attv  : 

Whereas  your  Highness's  exceptional  ability  in  both  peace  29.  Crom- 
and  war  is  already  famous  throughout   the  world,  and  your  ^®^^  ^^ 
greatness  of  spirit  and  constancy  are  such  as  to  make  all  neigh-  respects  to 
boring  rulers  zealously  seek  your  friendship,  since  none  of  them  *^®  Great 
could  desire  a  truer  or  more  faithful  friend  and  ally ;   so  we,  (16^7)°'^ 
in  order  to  prove  that  we  too  are  among  those  w^ho  hold  the 
highest  possible  opinion  of  you  and  your  distinguished  services 
to  the  Christian  Church,  have  sent   to  you   the  noble  lord, 
William  Jepson,  a  colonel,  and  a  member  of  our  upper  house, 
in  order  that  he  may  convey  to  you,  in  our  name,  our  most 
cordial  greetings,  our  best  wishes  for  a  happy  termination  of  all 
your  undertakings,  and  our  especial  good  will  and  inclination 
toward  you  in  all  things.    We  beg,  therefore,  that  in  all  his 


64  Readings  in  Modern  European  History 

dealings  with  you  you  will  bestow  on  him  the  same  faith  and 
confidence  as  though  everything  were  authorized  and  approved 
by  us  by  word  of  mouth. 

In  a  letter  addressed  to  Louis  XIV,  the  Pope  pro- 
tests against  the  arrogance  of  the  successor  of  the  Great 
Elector  in  assuming  the  kingly  crown. 

30.  The  We,  Clement  XI,  send  to  our  beloved  son  in  Christ  our 

Pope  pro-  good  wishes  and  apostolic  blessing. 

the  assump-  Although  it  is  well  known  to  us  that  your  Majesty  in  no 

tion  of  king-  way  approves  the  bad  example  which  has  been  given  to  all 

ship  by  the     Christendom  by  the  behavior  of  Frederick,  margrave  of  Bran- 
elector  of  -     ,  .      ,     .  ■,  ,        •  1      7  1  . 
Brandenburg  denburg,  m  darmg  to  openly  assume  the  title  of  kmg ;  never- 

(1701)  theless,  lest  we  seem  to  fail  in  upholding  our  office,  we  cannot 

pass  over  this  matter  in  silence ;  for  a  non-Catholic  person 
cannot,  without  affront  to  the  Church,  assume  the  sacred  title 
of  King,  and  the  said  margrave  has  not  hesitated  to  call  him- 
self king  of  a  part  of  Prussia  which  has  from  of  old  belonged 
to  the  German  knights. 

Wherefore,  in  view  of  this  our  admonition,  we  require  your 
Majesty  (whose  magnanimity  is  well  known  to  us)  to  refrain 
from  according  to  the  said  margrave  the  kingly  dignity  which 
he  has  so  rashly  ventured  to  assume.  Such  as  he  are  con- 
demned and  cast  out  by  the  word  of  God,  which  says,  "Ye 
have  ruled,  but  not  through  me ;  ye  have  become  princes  and 
I  have  not  known  ye." 

Our  reverend  brother,  Philip  Anthony,  archbishop  of  Athens, 
will  further  communicate  our  views  on  this  matter  to  your 
Majesty,  to  whom,  in  God's  name,  we  wish  all  happiness  and 
graciously  send  our  apostolic  blessing. 

Given  at  Rome,  at  St.  Peter's,  under  the  seal  of  the  fisher- 
man's ring,  the  i6th  of  April,  1701. 

One  can  form  some  idea  of  the  character  of  Frederick 
William  I  from  the  instructions  which  he  gave  for  the 
education  of  his  son,  who  was  later  destined  to  win  for 
himself  the  proud  title  of  Frederick  the  Great. 


Russia  and  Prussia  become  European  Pozvers      65 

.  .  .  Above  all  else,  it  is  important  that  his   character —  31.  Instruc- 
and  it  is  character  which  governs  all  human  action  —  should  ^°^®  °f 
be,  from  earliest  youth,  so  formed  that  he  will  love  and  delight  William  I 
in  virtue  and  feel  horror  and  disgust  for  vice.    Nothing  can  so  for  the 
greatly  contribute  to  this  end  as  to  implant  the  true  fear  of  God  hi^son^^  ° 
so  early  in  the  young  heart  that  it  shall  take  root  and  bear  fruit  (condensed) 
in  the  time  when  there  is  no  longer  any  guidance  or  oversight. 
For  other  men  are  guided  toward  virtue  and  away  from  evil  by 
the  rewards  and  punishments  dealt  out  by  those  who  are  set 
above  them,  but  the  prince  must  rely  on  the  fear  of  God  alone, 
since  he  is  subject  to  no  human  law,  punishment,  or  reward. 

My  son  and  all  his  attendants  shall  say  their  prayers  on  their 
knees  both  morning  and  evening,  and  after  prayers  shall  read 
a  chapter  from  the  Bible. 

He  shall  be  kept  away  from  operas,  comedies,  and  other 
worldly  amusements  and,  as  far  as  possible,  be  given  a  distaste 
for  them.  He  must  be  taught  to  pay  proper  respect  and  sub- 
mission to  his  parents,  but  without  slavishness. 

His  tutors  must  use  every  means  they  can  devise  to  restrain 
him  from  puffed-up  pride  and  insolence  and  to  train  him  in 
good  management,  economy,  and  modesty.  And  since  nothing 
is  so  harmful  as  flattery,  all  those  who  are  about  the  person  of 
my  son  are  forbidden  to  indulge  in  it  on  pain  of  my  extreme 
displeasure. 

As  to  the  further  studies  that  become  a  prince,  his  progress 
must  depend  upon  his  years  and  growth,  but  it  must  be  looked 
to  that  he  is  taught  the  most  important  things  first,  and  all 
without  inspiring  distaste  or  disgust.  As  this  will  depend  largely 
on  the  adroitness  of  his  preceptor,  Duhan,  the  latter  must  con- 
sult from  time  to  time  with  the  head  tutor  as  to  the  course  to 
be  pursued,  which  must  then  be  presented  to  me  for  my 
approval. 

As  for  the  Latin  language,  he  is  not  to  learn  it,  and  I  desire 
that  no  one  shall  even  speak  to  me  on  this  subject ;  but  his 
tutors  shall  see  to  it  that  he  acquires  a  terse  and  elegant  style 
in  writing  French  as  well  as  German.  Arithmetic,  mathematics, 
artillery,  and  agriculture  he  must  be  taught  thoroughly,  ancient 
history  only  superficially,  but  that  of  our  own  time  and  of  the 


66  Readings  in  Modern  Europeaji  History 

last  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  as  accurately  as  possible.  He 
must  have  a  thorough  knowledge  of  law,  of  international  law, 
of  geography,  and  of  what  is  most  remarkable  in  each  country  ; 
and,  above  all,  my  son  must  be  carefully  taught  the  history  of 
his  own  House. 

His  tutors  must  take  the  greatest  pains  to  imbue  my  son 
with  a  sincere  love  for  the  soldier's  profession  and  to  impress 
upon  him  that  nothing  else  in  the  world  can  confer  upon  a 
prince  such  fame  and  honor  as  the  sword,  and  that  he  will  be 
despised  by  all  the  world  if  he  does  not  only  love  it  but  seek 
in  it  his  only  glory ;  and  his  chief  tutor  shall  provide  for  his 
being  taught  the  practice  of  arms  as  play  in  his  recreation 
hours. 

Nothing  is  more  becoming  or  more  necessary  in  a  prince 
than  the  ability  to  speak  well  under  all  circumstances;  there- 
fore my  son's  tutors  must  look  to  it  that  he  accustom  himself 
betimes  to  this  art  by  practice.  .  .  . 

The  following  is  a  suggestive  letter  of  the  crown 
prince,  Frederick,  written  at  the  age  of  sixteen,  to  his 
father,  Frederick  William  I. 

WusTERHAUSEN,  September  ii,  1728 

32.  A  youth-  I  have  not  ventured  for  a  long  time  to  present  myself  before 
ful  letter  of  j^y  ^jg^j-  papa,  partly  because  I  was  advised  against  it,  but 
the  Great  chiefly  because  I  anticipated  an  even  worse  reception  than 
to  his  father  usual  and  feared  to  vex  my  dear  papa  still  further  by  the  favor 
I  have  now  to  ask ;  so  I  have  preferred  to  put  it  in  writing. 

I  beg  my  dear  papa  that  he  will  be  kindly  disposed  toward 
me.  I  do  assure  him  that  after  long  examination  of  my  con- 
science I  do  not  find  the  slightest  thing  with  which  to  reproach 
myself ;  but  if,  against  my  wish  and  will,  I  have  vexed  my  dear 
papa,  I  hereby  beg  most  humbly  for  forgiveness,  and  hope  that 
my  dear  papa  will  give  over  the  fearful  hate  which  has  appeared 
so  plainly  in  his  whole  behavior  and  to  which  I  cannot  accus- 
tom myself.  I  have  always  thought  hitherto  that  I  had  a  kind 
father,  but  now  I  see  the  contrary.  However,  I  will  take  cour- 
age and  hope  that  my  dear  papa  will  think  this  all  over  and 


Russia  and  Prussia  become  European  Poivers      6/ 

take  me  again  into  his  favor.  Meantime  I  assure  him  that  I 
will  never,  my  life  long,  willingly  fail  him,  and  in  spite  of  his 
disfavor  I  am  still,  with  most  dutiful  and  childlike  respect,  my 
dear  papa's 

Most  obedient  and  faithful  servant  and  son, 

Frederick 

Frederick  William  replied  : 

A  bad,  obstinate  boy,  who  does  not  love  his  father ;  for  when  Frederick 
one  does  one's  best,  and  especially  when  one  loves  one's  father,  "^^^ijiiam's 
one  does  what  he  wishes  not  only  when  he  is  standing  by  but 
when  he  is  not  there  to  see.  Moreover  you  know  very  well  that 
I  cannot  stand  an  effeminate  fellow  who  has  no  manly  tastes, 
who  cannot  ride  or  shoot  (to  his  shame  be  it  said  !),  is  untidy 
about  his  person,  and  wears  his  hair  curled  like  a  fool's  instead 
of  cutting  it ;  and  that  I  have  condemned  all  these  things  a 
thousand  times,  and  yet  there  is  no  sign  of  improvement.  For 
the  rest,  haughty,  offish  as  a  country  lout,  conversing  with  none 
but  a  favored  few  instead  of  being  affable  and  popular,  grimac- 
ing like  a  fool,  and  never  following  my  wishes  out  of  love  for 
me  but  only  when  forced  into  it,  caring  for  nothing  but  to  have 
his  own  way,  and  thinking  nothing  else  is  of  any  importance. 

This  is  my  answer.  ^ 

Frederick  William 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  WARS  OF  FREDERICK  THE  GREAT 

Section  I  J.    Frederick  the  Great  and  Maria  TJieresa 

Immediately  upon  his  father's  death  Frederick  threw 
himself  eagerly  into  the  business  of  government  and 
opened  negotiations  with  the  chief  European  powers 
with  a  hope  of  securing  their  support,  or  at  least  pre- 
venting their  opposition,  when  he  should  begin  to  realize 
his  plans.  The  secret  instructions  which  he  personally 
prepared  for  Camas  whom  he  sent  to  France,  and  Truch- 
sess  whom  he  dispatched  to  Hanover,  clearly  reveal  the 
spirit  of  his  whole  reign.    To  his  envoy  to  France  he  says : 

33.  Secret  The  pretext  for  your  journey  to  the  court  of  France  is  to 

instructions  present  your  compliments  to  the  kiner  as  an  ally  of  my  deceased 
of  Frederick  f    ,  ^  ,  -r     ,  •  r  x  .1       ,      j      .1  •        1  • 

to  his  envoy  father  and  to  notify  him  of  my  father  s  death,  assuring  him 

to  France      that  I  am  much  inclined  to  maintain  the  same  attitude  toward 

(June,  1740)  ]^jj^^  ^g  j^y  father,  provided  that  this  is  reconcilable  with  my 

best  interests.    I  am  sending  Truchsess  to  Hanover.    He  is 

to  exercise  a  check  there  on  the  policy  of  the  Cardinal  [i.e. 

Fleury,  the  French  chief  minister],  and  you  must  talk  about 

Truchsess  as  a  man  for  whom  I  have  the  highest  esteem  and 

who  is  in  the  secret  of  things.     Emphasize  this  so  that  the 

French  wont  wish  to  let  me  escape  them  and  will  make  me 

better  terms  than  they  did  the  late  king,  my  father.    England 

wants  me,  that  is  sure,  and  it  is  certain  that  she  will  make 

me  some  advantageous  propositions.   .  .   . 

The  increase  of  my  forces  which  will  take  place  during  your 

stay  at  Versailles  will  furnish  you  an  excuse  for  talking  of  my 

68 


TJie  Wars  of  Frederick  the  Great  69 

lively  and  impetuous  habits  of  mind.  You  can  say  that  it  is  to 
be  feared  that  this  strengthening  of  my  army  may  produce  a 
fire  which  will  sweep  all  Europe  ;  that  it  is  the  nature  of  young 
people  to  be  rash,  and  you  may  recall  the  fact  that  the  ambition 
to  be  a  hero  has  caused,  and  may  still  cause,  infinite  disturbance 
to  the  repose  of  the  nations.  You  may  say  that  quite  naturally 
I  love  France,  but  that  if  she  neglects  me  now,  that  may  settle 
the  business  once  and  forever;  if,  on  the  contrary,  she  con- 
ciliates me  now,  that  I  shall  be  in  a  position  to  render  the 
French  monarchy  more  important  services  than  Gustavus 
Adolphus  ever  rendered  it. 

Be  as  civil  as  possible  to  the  Cardinal ;  give  him  smooth 
words  for  smooth  words  and  facts  for  facts.  Find  out  the 
ministers'  plans,  for  I  am  convinced  that  all  their  schemes  are 
directed  toward  gaining  some  advantage  when  the  Emperor 
shall  die.  Try  to  determine  whether  the  question  of  the  [Aus- 
trian] succession  could  induce  them  to  undertake  a  war,  or  do 
you  infer  that  they  will  merely  temporize.  Stir  up  so  far  as 
you  can  their  dislike  for  England.  Sound  Maurepas  and  those 
whom  you  suspect  may  succeed  the  Cardinal  and  do  your  best 
to  learn  them  by  heart. 

These,  my  dear  Camas,  are  my  instructions.  I  could  not 
have  found  a  more  honest  or  worthy  man  for  the  most  impor- 
tant commission  possible  at  the  present  juncture.  I  rely  upon 
your  fidelity  and  skill  in  the  execution  of  my  orders,  and  remain 
your  very  faithful  king,  Frederick 

RuppiN,  June  11,  1740 

To  Truchsess,  the  representative  he  sent  to  Hanover, 
Frederick  gave  the  following  instructions  : 

I  resolved  to  send  you  to  Hanover  to  pay  the  usual  compli-  34.  Secret 
ments  to  the  king  of  England  on  the  occasion  of  the  death  of  instructions 
the  late  king,  my  father.    You  will  pour  out  infinite  assurances  erick's  envoy 
of  my  personal  attachment,  for  you  must  exhibit  in  the  presence  to  Hanover 
of  the  ministers  and  the  French  minions  the  most  hearty  cor-  ^J"°®'  ^740) 
diality  toward  the  English  ministers,  even  if  there  is  really  very 
little,  for  you  must  pull  the  wool  over  the  ministers'  eyes  in 


70  Readings  in  Modern  European  History 

order  to  learn  their  real  intentions.  If  they  talk  to  you  about 
the  welfare  of  Europe  and  alliances,  say  that  no  one  has  the 
welfare  of  Europe  more  at  heart  than  I ;  that  I  ask  nothing 
better  than  to  share  in  it,  but  that  1  must  have  favorable  terms 
and  solid  advantages  which  will  assure  the  alliance  of  the  two 
royal  houses. 

You  will  make  much  of  my  sending  Camas  to  France,  and 
will  say,  with  some  signs  of  jealousy,  that  he  is  one  of  my  most 
intimate  companions,  that  he  has  my  full  confidence,  and  that 
he  is  not  going  to  France  to  waste  his  time.  If  they  want  to 
talk  business,  tell  them  that  you  are  not  entirely  hopeless  of 
the  success  of  your  mission  if  they  will  only  make  me  as  good 
conditions  as  the  French.  ...  If  they  speak  of  the  increase 
of  my  forces,  say  that  I  shall  not  on  that  account  live  on  less 
happy  terms  with  my  neighbors,  and  that  I  am  looking  rather 
to  my  safety  than  to  dispoiling  them, —  in  a  word,  surprise  their 
secrets,  proclaim  my  partiality  for  them,  but  do  not  say  any- 
thing positive.  Let  them  both  hope  and  fear  anything  and 
everything.  .  .  .  Your  reports  should  be  made  directly  to  me. 
In  order  to  be  quite  sure  of  my  position  I  have  selected  you 
as  an  honest  man  in  whom  I  could  place  confidence ;  I  rely 
accordingly  upon  your  fidelity  and  skill,  and  assure  you,  in 
return,  that  I  am  your  very  affectionate  king, 

Frederick 
Charlottenburg,  June  i8,  1740 

Maria  Theresa,  the  young  and  inexperienced  ruler  of 
the  vast  Hapsburg  dominions,  was  no  match  for  the  inde- 
fatigable and  alert  king  of  Prussia,  the  character  of  whose 
intrigues  is  so  well  shown  in  the  preceding  letters  to 
his  envoys.  A  modern  historian  gives  the  following  im- 
pressions of  the  young  Maria  Theresa,  which  he  derived 
from  the  reports  of  the  foreign  diplomats  who  frequented 
her  court. 

At  the  time  of  her  father's  death  Maria  Theresa  had  not 
yet  completed  her  twenty-fourth  year.  Although  for  a  long 
time  there  had  been  no  reasonable  doubt  that  she  was  to  be 


The  Wars  of  Frederick  the  Great  y  i 

heir  to  the  thrones  of  Austria,  still  up  to  this  time  nothing  35.  A  modern 
whatever  had  been  done  to  introduce  her  to  the  cares  of  State,  historian's 
She  was  therefore  wholly  untrained  when  she  became  head  of  Maria  The- 
her  kingdom,  and  there  was  no  way  of  judging  how  far  she  resa 
would  become  capable  of  carrying  such  an  enormous  burden. 
All,  however,  who  knew  her  had  confidence  in  her  ability,  since 
every  one  who  came  into  contact  with  her  gained  the  most  favor- 
able impression  of  her.    She  possessed  in  the  highest  degree  all 
the  qualities  most  likely  to  win  admiration  and  respect. 

Her  physical  beauty  had  since  her  marriage  developed  to 
its  full  glory ;  she  united  exceptional  charm  and  majesty  of 
bearing  in  an  unusual  degree.  The  clear  beam  of  her  deep- 
blue  eyes,  vivacious  but  at  the  same  time  full  of  tenderness,  the 
high  forehead,  the  rich  fair  hair,  the  softly  curved  mouth,  the 
gleaming  white  teeth,  the  fine  oval  and  the  gay  expression  of 
her  face,  the  clear  complexion,  the  wonderful  form  of  her  neck, 
her  arms  and  hands,  her  figure,  —  of  more  than  middle  height, 
—  radiant  with  health,  at  once  strong  and  graceful,  her  light 
and  at  the  same  time  dignified  carriage  all  combined  to  prove 
Maria  Theresa  one  of  the  few  women  designed  by  nature  as  a 
perfect  model  of  womanhood. 

In  addition  to  these  advantages  she  possessed  an  admirable 
alertness  of  mind,  a  keen  judgment,  an  excellent  memory,  the 
fortunate  gift  of  being  able  either  in  private  conversation  or  on 
public  occasions  to  express  her  thoughts  with  ease,  certainty, 
and  a  convincingness  as  to  the  correctness  of  her  views,  a 
warm  feeling  for  the  reputation  of  her  House  and  the  welfare 
of  her  subjects,  a  deep-rooted  regard  for  law  and  justice,  a 
sincere  piety,  and  an  unshakable  trust  in  God.  Such  was  the 
princess  in  whose  inexperienced  but  strong  hand  lay  the  fate 
of  the  Austrian  House  and  of  its  wide  possessions,  —  the  fate, 
as  well,  of  many  millions  of  men  wholly  different  in  customs, 
race,  and  language,  who  recognized  in  their  common  ruler  the 
strongest  tie  which  held  them  together. 

Frederick  the  Great  sought  to  justify  in  the  eyes  of 
the  world  his  occupation  of  Silesia  by  issuing  the 
following  declaration : 


72  Readings  in  Modern  Enropean  History 

36.  Fred-  We  Frederick,  etc.    As  it  has  pleased  the  Ahuighty  to  take 

erick's  mam-  fj-Qjj^  ^-j^jg  world  the  Emperor  Charles  VI,  and  consequently  the 

seizing  Si-      Empire  and  the  most  august  House  of  Austria  remain  without 

lesiaini74o    a  head;   so  that  the  latter,  considering  the  extinction  of  the 

male  line,  finds  itself  likewise,  in  the  matter  of  the  succession 

to  its  dominions,  much  exposed  to  dangerous  troubles  of  which 

a  part  have  manifested  themselves  already,  and  others  still  are 

ready  to  break  out : 

Frederick  As  we  have,  moreover,  always  taken  part  in  what  tended 

claims  to  act     ^^  ^j^^  good  and  preservation  of  the  duchy  of  Silesia,  for  the 
in  self-defense  ,.  ^  .  ,..  iii- 

reason  that  it  serves  for  a  barrier  to  our  dominions,  and  that  this 

province  in  particular  might  be  exposed  to  the  same  troubles, 
and  be  invaded,  to  our  very  great  prejudice,  as  well  as  to  that 
of  our  frontiers,  by  those  who  entertain  pretensions  to  the 
hereditary  dominions  of  the  House  of  Austria ;  from  whence 
the  flame  of  war  might  extend  itself  to  our  own  territories,  and 
expose  them  to  evident  danger  : 

Wherefore,  in  order  to  prevent  consequences  so  dangerous, 
upon  the  outbreak  of  a  general  war  with  which  Europe  is 
threatened ;  and  to  provide  for  the  defense  of  the  dominions 
which  God  has  given  us,  as  well  as  for  that  of  our  subjects, 
conformably  to  the  principles  of  natural  right,  which  permits 
all  and  every  one  to  be  watchful  of  their  own  preservation ; 
and  also  to  prevent  divers  plans,  which  are  partly  kept  con- 
cealed, but  of  which  some  have  already  manifested  themselves, 
and  may  prove  prejudicial  to  us  ;  and,  in  fine,  for  very  important 
reasons  on  our  part,  which  we  shall  not  fail  to  make  public  in 
due  time,  we  have  thought  proper  to  cause  our  troops  to  enter 
the  duchy  of  Silesia,  in  order  to  cover  it  from  being  invaded  or 
attacked. 
Frederick's  And  as  by  SO  doing  we  have  no  intention  to  prejudice  in 

friendship  for  <^^  least  her  Majesty  the  queen  of  Hungary,  with  whom  we  are 
resolved  to  keep  a  strict  friendship,  as  well  as  with  the  whole 
Austrian  House,  and  to  do  her  and  them  all  manner  of  good 
offices,  in  imitation  of  our  ancestors ;  and  as  it  will  sufficiently 
appear  in  proper  time  that  such  only  is  our  view,  and  that  we 
are  besides  actually  busied  in  explaining  ourselves  upon  this 
occasion  to  her  Majesty  the  queen  of  Hungary : 


TJie  Wars  of  Frederick  the  Great  73 

For  this  reason  the  inhabitants  of  the  duchy  of  Silesia  and  The  Silesians 
of  the  incorporated  provinces,  of  whatever  rehgion  or  condition  ^''^  *°  ^^^^ 

,  1  1111  1  •!•  their  formei 

they  are,  may  be  assured  that  they  have  no  hostihty  to  appre-  rights  and 
hend  on  our  part,  nor  on  that  of  our  troops;  but  that,  on  the  liberties 
contrary,  they  shall  be  maintained  in  their  rights,  liberties,  and 
privileges,  as  well  public  and  private  as  ecclesiastical  and  civil ; 
that  they  shall  have  the  benefit  of  our  royal  protection  in  its 
full  extent;  that  we  shall  give  strict  orders  that  our  troops 
observe  the  most  exact  discipline ;  and  that  no  persons  be 
molested  nor  troubled  in  the  peaceable  possession  of  what 
belongs  to  them. 

On  the  other  hand,  as  we  enter  Silesia  without  any  design 
of  committing  the  least  hostility,  but  only  to  support  its  inhab- 
itants, preserve  their  properties,  and  provide  for  the  tranquillity 
of  that  duchy,  which  is  equally  necessary  to  us,  we  are  in  great 
hopes  that  they  will  undertake  nothing  that  may  be  contrary 
to  these  gracious  offers  and  marks  of  friendship,  or  that  can 
oblige  us,  contrary  to  our  inclination,  to  take  other  measures ; 
in  which  case  they  can  impute  only  to  themselves  the  bad 
consequences  which  may  result  from  them.    Signed 

-r^        ,  Frederick 

Berlin,  December  i,  1740 

The  year  before  Frederick  occupied  Silesia  war  had 
broken  out  between  England  and  Spain  as  a  result  of 
the  efforts  of  the  former  to  increase  her  Spanish-Amer- 
ican commerce.  The  methods  employed  by  the  English 
merchants  to  advance  their  trade  in  the  Spanish  West 
Indies  are  described  by  a  Spanish  official,  Alsedo  y  Her- 
rera,  who  spent  years  in  South  America  and  Panama,  of 
which  he  was  governor,  1 741-1749.  The  particular  inci- 
dents he  relates  occurred  some  eight  years  after  the  con- 
clusion of  the  Peace  of  Utrev:ht,  but  they  are  typical  of 
the  conditions  which  prevailed  during  the  following  years 
and  led  finally  to  the  outbreak  of  hostilities  between 
England  and  Spain  known  as  the  war  of  Jenkins's  ear. 


74  Readings  in  Modern  European  History 

37.  A  Span-  On  June  21  of  the  same  year  (1721)  the  Southern  Fleet  of 
ish  colonial  galleons  left  Cadiz  under  the  command  of  Lieutenant  General 
count  of  the  Baltasar  de  Guevara.  Upon  its  arrival  at  Porto  Bello  in  time 
English  trade  for  the  annual  Fair  it  encountered  the  Royal  George^  the 
in  the  West  ^^^^  ^^  ^^  English  license  ships.  Though  allowed  no  more 
than  650  tons  of  cargo  by  the  treaty  of  1 7 16,  the  vessel  actually 
HowtheEng-  Carried  975.  General  de  Guevara  forthwith  intrusted  to  three 
lish  evaded  license  masters  of  the  fleet  the  duty  of  measuring  the  hold  of 
of^the°c om°^^  ^^  English  ship,  but  they  could  not  prove  the  excess.  Their 
mercial  treaty  failure  was  due  in  part  to  a  confusion  of  the  measurement  in  geo- 
with  Spain  metric  feet,  by  which  the  dimensions  of  vessels  are  gauged,  with 
the  cubic  handbreadths  by  which  the  tonnage  is  determined. 

In  part,  also,  another  circumstance  is  responsible  for  the 
failure  of  the  Spanish  officers  to  detect  any  evidence  of  fraud, 
assuming,  of  course,  the  absence  of  collusion  on  their  side. 
Apparently  the  vessel  had  no  greater  carrying  capacity  than 
650  tons,  but  persons  who  are  expert  in  the  rules  of  naval  con- 
struction know  very  well  that  the  steerage,  commonly  called 
"  between-decks,"  equals  in  capacity  a  third  of  the  hold,  and 
the  cabin  a  sixth  of  it ;  so  when  all  three  have  been  filled,  — 
hold,  steerage,  and  cabin,  —  the  gross  tonnage  will  be  975 .  The 
English  ship  always  carried  a  cargo  of  this  size.  Indeed  it  was 
laden  so  heavily  that  its  very  gunwales  were  awash.  Bundles 
and  packages  filled  the  hold,  the  steerage  space  was  crowded 
with  huge  chests,  and  the  cabin  bulged  with  boxes  and  bales. 

The  English  claimed  that  the  materials  stored  in  the  steer- 
age and  cabin  were  furniture  for  the  use  of  their  trading 
houses,  cloth  goods  for  their  agents  and  employees,  and 
medicines  and  drugs  for  accidents  and  cures,  but  all  of  it  was 
salable  merchandise.  Some  things  they  could  not  conceal 
from  the  commander  and  the  commercial  representatives  of 
the  galleons.  For  example,  many  of  the  bales  and  bundles 
had  not  been  pressed,  the  stitches  in  their  seams  were  recent, 
and  the  ink  of  their  lettering  was  still  fresh.  Hundreds  of 
items,  also,  were  lacking  in  the  order  of  enumeration,  which, 
if  they  had  not  been  thrown  overboard  to  lighten  the  ship  dur- 
ing the  course  of  the  voyage,  must  have  been  put  ashore  some- 
where.   The  proof  soon  appeared  when  the  Spanish  commissioner 


TJie   Wars  of  Frederick  the  Gt'eat  75 

of  trade  asked  to  see  the  original  bill  of  lading  so  that  he 
might  know  by  this  means  whether  the  cargo  was  in  excess  of 
the  amount  permitted.  On  the  ground  that  the  treaty  had 
authorized  no  such  procedure,  the  request  was  denied. 

During  the  course  of  the  Fair  the  agents  of  the  Royal 
George  sold  their  goods  to  the  colonial  tradesmen  thirty  per 
cent  cheaper  than  the  Spanish  merchants  of  the  galleons 
could  do.  This  advantage  came  from  the  fact  that  they  had 
been  able  to  bring  the  commodities  directly  from  the  place  of 
manufacture,  exempt  from  Spanish  customs  duties,  convoy 
charges,  transportation  expenses,  commissions,  and  the  like. 
Even  after  the  original  contents  of  the  ship  had  been  disposed 
of,  the  supply  was  kept  up  by  secret  consignments  of  goods  of 
English  and  European  manufacture  received  from  the  packet 
boats  and  sloops  engaged  ostensibly  in  the  slave  trade. 

Instead  of  bringing  the  negroes  in  the  slave  hulks  directly  The  slave 
from  Africa  to  the  ports  specified  in  the  Asiento,^  the  English  ^^"^^^ 
cunningly  devised  the  plan  of  landing  them  first  at  their  colony 
of  Jamaica.  Here  the  slaves  were  packed,  along  with  divers 
kinds  of  merchandise,  into  small  boats  that  made  frequent 
sailings.  Not  only  was  the  cargo  of  the  Royal  George  thus 
replenished  as  rapidly  as  it  was  exhausted,  but  trade  could  be 
surreptitiously  carried  on  at  times  when  the  Fair  was  not  in 
progress,  and  the  treasure  of  the  Spanish  colonies  duly  gath- 
ered into  English  hands. 

Nor  was  this  all  of  their  duplicity.  On  the  pretext  that  a 
number  of  bales  and  boxes  stored  in  the  warehouse  at  Porto 
Bello  were  an  unsold  residue  of  the  cargo,  the  governor  of 
Panama  was  asked  for  the  privilege  of  bringing  them  to  that 
city.  In  this  fashion  the  English  could  legitimize  goods  that 
had  already  been  smuggled  into  the  warehouses  at  Panama  and 
then  proceed  to  sell  them  to  the  merchants  of  New  Granada 
and  to  the  traders  on  the  vessels  that  plied  along  the  Pacific 
coast.  On  one  occasion  in  1723,  at  the  instance  of  the  Span- 
ish commissary,  ten  loads  of  twenty  bales  each  of  the  supposed 
residue  of  the  cargo  of  the  Royal  George  were  opened  on  the 

1  The  treaty  between  Spain  and  England  granting  the  English  the 
privilege  of  supplying  the  Spanish  colonies  with  slaves. 


'j6  Readings  in  JSIodern  Enropean  History 

way  from  Porto  Bello  to  Panama  and  found  to  contain  nothing 

but  stones,  sticks,  and  straw. 

A  knavish  A  knavish  trick  connected  with  the  slave  trade  should  now 

trick  per-       -^g  described.    Having  brought  the  negroes  in  a  number  of 

the  EngUsh    small  boats  to  out-of-the-way  places  not  authorized   for  the 

slave  traders  purpose  in  the  Asiento,  the  English  traders  sold  them  for  a 

third  less  than  the  prices  at  the  regular  trading  stations.    But 

since  the  treaty  empowered  them  to  seize,  as  smuggled  goods, 

slaves  brought  in  by  individuals  of  other  nations,  they  posted 

guards  and  sentinels  in  the  outskirts  of  the  spot  where  the  sale 

had  just  taken  place,  and  had  the  purchasers  arrested.    Many 

a  thrifty-minded  Spaniard  who  relished  the  thought  of  buying 

slaves  at  cheap  rates  fell  into  a  snare  from  which  he  could  not 

escape  until  he  had  paid  the  regular  price  in  addition  to  what 

he  had  already  given. 

The  EngUsh       In  Order  to  obscure  the  facts  of  these  fraudulent  transactions 

bribe  Span-    ^g  thoroughly  as    possible,  the   Enerlish  contrived   a  scheme 
ish  officials  ,  .  °     ^  ,^  ,  '  ,     °  ,  ,        .    . 

craftier  than  any  hitherto  related.    It  seems  that  the  Asiento 

had  allowed  them  to  appoint  ^'judges-conservators"  whose 
business  it  should  be  to  defend  their  privileges  against  unlaw- 
ful interference.  In  the  exercise  of  this  right  they  appointed 
to  the  office  the  local  governors  of  the  ports  where  the  traffic 
was  carried  on,  and  gave  them  a  salary  of  two  thousand  dol- 
lars a  year,  supplemented  by  special  gratifications  in  the  shape 
of  European  furniture,  jewels,  and  delicacies.  Thus  were  the 
officials  pledged  to  connivance  and  silence.  If  any  of  the 
governors  should  decline  to  be  bribed,  he  was  threatened  with 
political  destruction  by  the  letters  and  complaints  which  the 
English  minister  at  the  Spanish  court  would  surely  present  to 
the  home  authorities.  Few  there  were  under  such  circum- 
stances who  were  able  to  resist  the  frauds,  preserve  their 
honor,  and  uphold  their  good  name. 

Sectio7i  14.    The  Seven  Years'  War  {1756-1763) 

Some  time  after  the  contest  between  Frederick  the 
Great  and  Maria  Theresa  and  the  rivalry  of  France, 
Spain,  and  England  over  trade  and  colonies  had  involved 


TJie  Wars  of  Frederick  the  Great  y/ 

Europe  in  a  world-wide  war,  Louis  XV  announced  to 
his  subjects,  in  the  following  proclamation,  his  view 
of  the  conduct  of  England  and  Prussia  in  precipitating 
the  Seven  Years'  War,  and  at  the  same  time  sought  to 
justify  his  own  policy,  including  the  Austrian  alliance 
which  was  unpopular  with  many  of  his  people. 

In  order  to  form  a  clear  and  just  opinion  with  regard  to  the  38.  Louis 
negotiation  which  has  lately  broken  off  between  France  and  ^^'®  ^^®^ 
England,  it  is  necessary  to  recollect  the  motives  which  occa-  years'  War 
sioned  the  rupture  between  the  two  crowns,  and  the  particular 
circumstances  which    have    involved    a  considerable   part  of 
Europe  in  a  war,  which  had  at  first  America  only  for  its  object. 

The  limits  of  Acadia  and  Canada,  which,  by  the  Treaty  of  The  violence 
Aix-la-Chapelle,  were  left  to  the  discussion  of  commissaries  to  °^  *^^  English 
be  named  by  the   two  potentates,  have  served  England  as  a  for  the  war 
pretense  for  commencing  hostilities,  and  for  taking  two  French 
ships,  the  Alcide  and  the  Lys^  while,  in  the  midst  of  peace,  and 
under  the  sanction  of  the  law  of  nations,  the  duke  of  Mirepoix, 
the  French  ambassador,  was  treating  at  London  in  order  to 
prevent  a  rupture.  .  .  .  The  unexpected  violence  offered  on 
the  part  of  the  English  necessarily  brought  on  the  war.    His 
Majesty  found  himself  obliged,  though  with  regret,  to  repel  by 
force  the  indignity  offered  to  France,  and  to  prefer  the  honor 
of  the  nation  to  the  tranquillity  it  enjoyed. 

If  the  Court  of  London  had  no  other  design  than  to  estab-  England  stirs 
lish  the  respective  possessions  of  the  two  crowns  in   North  ^P  Europe 

.,  -..  ,  ,,,  ,  .  against  France 

America  upon  a  firm  footmg,  she  would  have  endeavored  to 
obviate,  as  France  had  done,  every  incident  which  might  en- 
gage the  powers  of  the  Continent  of  Europe  to  take  part  in  a 
war  which  was  absolutely  foreign  to  them,  and  which  in  fact, 
having  no  other  object  but  what  related  to  the  limits  of  Acadia 
and  Canada,  could  not  last  long,  and  did  not  require  the  inter- 
position of  any  other  power.  But  England  had  more  extensive 
views  :  she  endeavored  to  raise  a  general  war  against  France, 
and  hoped  to  renew  the  famous  league  which  was  formed 
against  Louis  XIV  upon  the  accession  of  Philip  V  to  the 
throne  of  Spain ;  and  to  persuade  all  the  courts  of  Europe 


78 


Readmgs  in  Modern  European  History 


The  pacific 
policy  of 
Louis  XV 


Maria  The- 
resa resists  the 
overtures  of 
England 


French  and 
Austrian  alli- 
ance of  1756 


The  conflict 
consists  of  two 
distinct  wars 


that  they  were  as  much  interested  in  the  Hmits  of  Acadia  as 
in  the  succession  of  Charles  II. 

The  conduct  of  France,  in  consequence  of  the  first  hostihties 
in  1755,  was  very  different  from  that  of  England  :  his  Majesty 
pacified  his  neighbors,  restrained  his  allies,  refused  the  advan- 
tageous prospect  of  a  war,  which  was  proposed  to  him  on  the 
Continent,  and  gave  all  the  powers  to  understand  that  his  sole 
ambition  was  to  restrain  his  enemies,  the  English,  within  due 
limits,  and  to  maintain  peace  and  justice  among  the  powers, 
who  ought  to  regard  the  differences  respecting  America  with 
the  most  impartial  neutrality. 

The  Court  of  London,  to  accomplish  their  ends,  took  advan- 
tage of  his  Majesty's  equitable  and  pacific  conduct.  They  knew 
that  one  of  the  allies  of  France  might  prove  a  lively  obstacle 
to  the  establishment  of  peace  and  tranquillity,  and  made  no 
doubt  but,  in  securing  that  ally,  they  should  be  able  to  make 
that  House,  which  was  considered  as  the  ancient  rival  of  France, 
enter  into  all  her  views ;  but  the  empress-queen  of  Hungary 
and  Bohemia,  animated  by  the  same  principles  of  equity  of 
which  his  Majesty  gave  such  laudable  proofs,  refused  the  pro- 
posals of  England,  and  rather  chose  to  run  the  risk  of  an  unjust 
war,  which  was  the  natural  and  foreseen  consequence  of  the 
treaty  signed  at  Whitehall  between  the  kings  of  England  and 
Prussia,  than  to  engage  in  one  contrary  to  the  good  faith  of 
her  Imperial  Majesty. 

His  Majesty  and  the  empress-queen,  previous  to  the  king 
of  Prussia's  invasion  of  Saxony,  entered  into  an  alliance  on  the 
first  of  May,  1756,  which  was  purely  defensive.  Their  Majesties 
hoped  that  their  alliance  would  check  the  fire  which  was  ready 
to  kindle  in  Germany,  and  that  it  would  prevent  a  war  on  the 
Continent  of  Europe.  They  were  deceived  in  their  expecta- 
tions :  the  Court  of  London  had  armed  the  king  of  Prussia : 
nothing  could  restrain  a  prince  whose  passion  for  war  was  un- 
happily violent :  and  he  began  hostilities  at  the  end  of  the  year 
1756,  by  the  invasion  of  Saxony  and  the  attack  of  Bohemia. 

From  that  time  two  distinct  wars  subsisted  :  one  of  France 
with  England,  which  at  the  beginning  had  nothing  in  com- 
mon with  the  war  in  Germany ;  and  the  other  which  the  king 


The  Wars  of  Frederick  the  Great  79 

of  Prussia  waged  against  the  empress-queen,  and  in  which  the 
king  of  England  was  interested  as  an  ally  of  the  king  of  Prus- 
sia, and  his  Majesty,  as  guarantor  of  the  Treaty  of  Westphalia, 
and,  after  his  defensive  treaty  of  the  first  of  May,  as  an  ally  of 
the  Court  of  Vienna. 

We  must  conclude  from  what  has  been  said  with  regard  to  France  and 
the  state  of  the  two  belligerent  crowns,  that  the  war  of  France  Austria  bound 

.  ,     X-       1        1    •      •       r  1    •       •  •    •  T     •  I-  to  stand  by 

With  England  is  in  tact,  and  m  its  origin,  very  distinct  from  g^ch  other 
that  of  the  empress  against  the  king  of  Prussia  :  nevertheless  to  the  end 
there  is  a  connection  between  the  two  wars,  which  consists  in 
the  common  engagement  between  the  king  and  the  empress- 
queen,  not  to  make  a  separate  peace  with  the  common  enemy 
but  by  mutual  consent.  This  engagement,  which  is  so  con- 
formable to  the  sentiments  of  friendship  and  confidence  by 
which  their  Majesties  are  united,  was  necessary  for  their  recip- 
rocal security.  As  it  would  be  dangerous  for  the  forces  of  the 
king  of  Prussia  to  join  against  France  with  those  of  England, 
commanded  by  Prince  Ferdinand,  it  would  be  equally  preju- 
dicial and  contrary  to  the  faith  of  his  Majesty's  engagements 
with  the  Court  of  Vienna,  that  the  British  army  should  join  the 
king  of  Prussia  against  the  empress-queen,  and  against  the 
princes  of  the  Empire  who  are  in  alliance  with  France. 

Although  the  year  1758  produced  no  political  event  which 
might  give  room  to  a  negotiation  for  the  reestablishment  of 
peace,  yet  France,  ever  zealous  to  promote  it  with  the  same 
sincerity,  made  use  of  the  mediation  of  Denmark  to  inform 
England  of  her  perseverance  in  the  same  pacific  dispositions ; 
the  answer  from  the  Court  of  London  was  as  haughty  as  it  was 
negative,  and  destroyed  all  hopes  of  a  negotiation. 

The  Seven  Years'  War  opened  disastrously  for  Fred- 
erick the  Great.  His  only  ally  against  all  Europe  was 
England.  In  spite  of  a  victory  over  the  French  at 
Rossbach  (November  5,  1757),  his  situation,  which  he 
describes  in  the  following  address  to  his  generals,  was 
a  very  critical  one.  But  so  great  was  his  military  skill 
and  the  valor  of  the  soldiers,  whom  he  inspired  with  his 


80 


Readings  in  Modern  European  History 


39.  Fred- 
erick's ad- 
dress to  his 
generals  and 
staff  officers 
December  3, 
1757,  before 
his  victory 
at  Leuthen 


own  fiery  confidence,  that  on  December  5  he  won  the 
battle  of  Leuthen  against  tremendous  odds, —  a  victory 
which  Napoleon  declared  would  alone  have  entitled  him 
to  rank  among  the  greatest  generals. 

You  are  aware,  gentlemen,  that  Prince  Karl  of  Lorraine  has 
succeeded  in  taking  Schweidnitz,  defeating  the  duke  of  Bevern 
and  making  himself  master  of  Breslau,  while  I  was  engaged  in 
checking  the  advance  of  the  French  and  imperial  forces.  A  part 
of  Schleswig,  my  capital,  and  all  the  military  stores  it  contained, 
are  lost,  and  I  should  feel  myself  in  dire  straits  indeed  if  it  were 
not  for  my  unbounded  confidence  in  your  courage,  your  con- 
stancy, and  your  love  for  the  fatherland,  which  you  have  proved 
to  me  on  so  many  occasions  in  the  past.  These  services  to  me 
and  to  the  fatherland  have  touched  the  deepest  fibers  of  my 
heart.  There  is  hardly  one  among  you  who  has  not  distin- 
guished himself  by  some  conspicuous  deed  of  valor,  wherefore  I 
flatter  myself  that  in  the  approaching  opportunity  also  you  will 
not  fail  in  any  sacrifice  that  your  country  may  demand  of  you. 

And  this  opportunity  is  close  at  hand.  I  should  feel  that  I 
had  accomplished  nothing  if  Austria  were  left  in  possession  of 
Schleswig.  Let  me  tell  you  then  that  I  propose,  in  defiance 
of  all  the  rules  of  the  art  of  war,  to  attack  the  army  of  Prince 
Karl,  three  times  as  large  as  ours,  wherever  I  find  it.  It  is  here 
no  question  of  the  numbers  of  the  enemy  nor  of  the  importance 
of  the  positions  they  have  occupied ;  all  this  I  hope  to  over- 
come by  the  devotion  of  my  troops  and  the  careful  carrying 
out  of  my  plans.  I  must  take  this  step  or  all  will  be  lost ;  we 
must  defeat  the  enemy,  else  we  shall  all  lie  buried  under  his 
batteries.    So  I  believe  —  so  I  shall  act. 

Communicate  my  decision  to  all  the  officers  of  the  army  ; 
prepare  the  common  soldier  for  the  exertions  that  are  to  come, 
and  tell  him  that  I  feel  justified  in  expecting  unquestioning 
obedience  from  him.  Remember  that  you  are  Prussians  and 
you  cannot  show  yourselves  unworthy  of  that  distinction.  But 
if  there  be  one  or  other  among  you  who  fears  to  share  with  me 
any  and  all  danger,  he  shall  at  once  be  given  his  discharge 
without  reproach  from  me. 


The  Wars  of  Frederick  the  Great  8 1 

(The  solemn  silence  with  which  this  speech  was  received 
and  the  glow  of  enthusiasm  reflected  in  the  faces  of  his  hearers 
convinced  Frederick  that  he  had  produced  the  effect  he  desired. 
With  a  gentle  smile  he  continued  :) 

I  was  convinced  that  no  one  of  you  would  wish  to  leave  me  ; 
I  count  then,  absolutely,  on  your  faithful  help  and  on  certain 
victory.  Should  I  not  return  to  reward  you  for  your  devotion, 
the  fatherland  itself  must  do  it.  Return  now  to  camp  and 
repeat  to  your  troops  what  you  have  heard  from  me.  The 
regiment  of  cavalry  that  does  not  immediately  on  the  receipt 
of  orders  throw  itself  upon  the  enemy  I  will  have  unmounted 
immediately  after  the  battle  and  make  it  a  garrison  regiment. 
The  battalion  of  infantry  that  even  begins  to  hesitate,  no  matter 
what  the  danger  may  be,  shall  lose  its  flags  and  its  swords  and 
have  the  gold  lace  stripped  from  its  uniforms. 

And  now,  gentlemen,  farewell ;  erelong  we  shall  either  have 
defeated  the  enemy  or  we  shall  see  each  other  no  more. 

Before  the  end  of  the  long  and  exhausting  war  Fred- 
erick had  met  with  several  crushing  reverses,  and  his 
resources  had  dwindled  to  almost  nothing.  He  writes 
the  following  letter,  September  27,  1762,  not  long  be- 
fore peace  was  finally  concluded,  to  his  trusted  French 
friend,  d'Argens. 

I  am  so  accustomed  to  reverses  and  mishaps  and  I  am  be-  40.  Fred- 
coming  so  indifferent  to  the  events  of  this  world,  that  things  ^^^^  *l^J  ^ 
which  would  formerly  have  made  the  most  profound  impression  he  is  grow- 
upon  me  now  glide  but  lightly  over  my  spirit.    I  can  assure  ing  old 
you,  my  dear  marquis,  that  I  have  really  made  some  progress 
in  the  practice  of  philosophy.    I  am  growing  old,  the  end  of 
my  days  draws  near,  and  my  spirit  is  gradually  detaching  itself 
from  the  fleeting  spectacle  of  this  world,  which  I  shall  leave 
so  soon.    The  circumstances  of  the  past  winter,  the  revolution 
in   Russia,   the   perfidy   of    the   English,  —  what  subjects  for 
cultivating  one's  reason  if  one  but  reflects  on  them  !    And  who 
would  wish  to  keep  low  company  all  one's  life  in  this  worst  of 
all  possible  worlds?    I  mention  only  a  few  of  my  causes  for 


82  Readings  in  Modem  European  History 

disgust,  but  I  have   had   so  many  during  this   war   that   my 

•  capacity  for  feeling  is  exhausted,  and  a  callus  of  insensibility 

and  indifference  has  formed  that  makes  me  good  for  nothing. 

I  write  you  naturally,  just  as  I  feel.  It  will  pain  you  a  little, 
but  believe  me  that  it  is  a  great  relief  to  unburden  one's  heart, 
and  consider  the  situation  in  which  I  am  placed. 

Farewell,  my  dear  marquis  ;  I  will  write  no  more  this  time, 
and  I  close  with  assurances  of  my  sincere  friendship. 

Section  I^.     Three  Partitions  of  Poland 
{1772,  1793,  and  1795) 

The  following  is  the  declaration  which  the  minister 
plenipotentiary  of  Russia  communicated  in  the  name 
of  her  Imperial  Majesty  Catharine  II,  to  the  king  and 
republic  of  Poland  on  September  18,  1772,  announcing 
the  first  partition  of  that  country. 

41.  Catharine       The  States  bordering  upon  Poland  have  so  often  been  in- 

II  announces    ygived  in  the  disorders  which  have  arisen  during  interregnums 
the  first  .       ,        ,  .       ,  ,         ,  .  ,    .  °  ,  ,  ? 

partition  of     in  that  kmgdom,  that  the  experience  of  the  past  would  m  any 

Poland  (1772)  case  have  led  the  neighboring  powers  to  occupy  themselves 
seriously  with  the  affairs  of  that  State  the  moment  that  the 
throne  became  vacant  by  the  death  of  King  Augustus  III. 
This  consideration  and  the  obvious  necessity  of  preventing  the 
fatal  effects  of  dissensions  which  threatened  to  arise  with  this 
last  vacancy  of  the  throne,  led  the  Court  of  St.  Petersburg  to 
endeavor  to  bring  about  a  union  in  favor  of  a  candidate  who 
should  be  at  once  the  most  worthy  of  the  throne,  and  the  most 
suitable  to  the  interests  of  his  fellow-citizens  and  of  the  neigh- 
boring States.  It  endeavored  at  the  same  time  to  rectify  certain 
abuses  in  the  constitution  of  the  Polish  State. 

The  Court  of  Berlin  seconded  the  measures  of  its  ally,  while 
the  Court  of  Vienna,  although  anxious  to  cooperate  in  assuring 
the  success  of  these  praiseworthy  measures,  believed  it  best  on 
account  of  the  embarrassments  which  might  arise  from  increas- 
ing the  number  of  those  interfering  directly  in  the  domestic 


The  Wars  of  Frederick  the  Great  83 

affairs  of  Poland,  to  remain  neutral  in  this  matter  as  well  as 
in  the  war  which  sprang  from  it  between  Russia  and  the 
Ottoman  Port. 

As  a  result  of  these  measures,  the  powers  had  the  satisfac- 
tion of  seeing  the  free  and  legal  election  of  King  Stanislas, 
who  is  now  reigning,  as  well  as  other  useful  results.  Every- 
thing seemed  to  promise  a  firm  peace  for  both  Poland  and  her 
neighbors,  but  unhappily  the  spirit  of  discord  took  possession 
of  a  portion  of  the  nation,  and  destroyed  in  an  instant  all  these 
hopes.  Citizens  armed  themselves  against  one  another,  factions 
usurped  the  legitimate  authority,  which  they  abused  in  utter 
contempt  of  law,  good  order,  and  public  security.  Justice,  the 
police,  commerce,  yes,  agriculture  itself,  all  were  destroyed. 

The  natural  connection  between  Poland  and  her  neighbors  The  tran- 
led  them  to  feel  most  keenly  the  sad  effects  of  these  disorders.  q^iHity  of 
They  have  been  forced  for  a  long  time  to  take  the  most  costly  neighbors 
measures  in  order  to  assure  the  tranquillity  of  their  own  fron-  disturbed 
tiers,  and  they  are  exposed,  owing  to  uncertainty  of  what  may 
result  from  the  destruction  of  this  kingdom,  to  the  danger  of 
the  decline  of  the  friendship  and  harmony  which  now  exists 
among  them.    Nothing  is  consequently  more  urgent  than  a 
prompt  remedy  for  these  ills,  which  are  producing  the  most 
vexatious  effects  in  the  neighboring  states,  and  which,  if  no 
measures  of  prevention  are  taken,  will  probably  entail  modifi- 
cations of  the  political  system  of  this  part  of  Europe. 

Reasons  of  such  weight  forbid  his  Majesty  the  King  of  Prus- 
sia, her  Majesty  the  Empress,  Queen  of  Hungary  and  Bohemia, 
and  her  Imperial  Majesty  of  all  the  Russias  longer  to  defer 
taking  a  decisive  stand  in  so  critical  a  situation.  These  powers 
have  agreed  accordingly  to  attempt  to  reach  without  loss  of 
time  a  common  understanding,  in  order  to  restore  peace  and 
good  order  in  Poland,  and  establish  the  ancient  constitution  of 
this  State  and  the  liberties  of  the  nation  upon  a  sound  basis. 

But  while  they  have  been  able  to  prevent  for  the  moment  Ancient 
the  ruin  and  the  arbitrary  destruction  of  this  kine^dom,  owing  to  claims  to 

r  .       ^  ^  .  1  ,    .        „.  ,  .   ,  .  PoHsh  terri- 

the  friendship  and  good  intelligence  which  now  exists  among  ^Qj-y  are 
them,  they  have  had  no  assurance  that  they  would  meet  with  advanced 
equal  success  in  the  future.    They  all  had  considerable  claims 


84  Readifigs  in  Modern  European  History 

upon  various  possessions  of  the  republic.  They  could  not  allow 
these  to  be  abandoned  to  the  course  of  events ;  they  conse- 
quently determined  to  enforce  their  ancient  rights  and  legiti- 
mate claims  on  the  possessions  of  the  republic,  —  claims  which 
each  is  ready  to  justify  in  due  time  and  in  the  proper  place. 

Consequently  his  Majesty  the  King  of  Prussia,  her  Majesty 
the  Empress,  Queen  of  Hungary  and  Bohemia,  and  her  Im- 
perial Majesty  of  all  the  Russias,  having  mutually  set  forth  their 
rights  and  claims,  and  having  come  to  an  agreement,  will  each 
take  an  equivalent  of  the  district  to  which  they  lay  claim,  and 
will  put  themselves  in  effective  possession  of  those  portions  of 
Poland  which  are  calculated  to  serve  hereafter  as  the  most 
natural  and  secure  boundary  between  them.  Each  of  the  three 
powers  reserves  the  privilege  of  issuing  a  statement  in  due 
time,  by  which  their  Majesties  will  renounce  hereafter  all  rights, 
claims,  and  pretensions  for  damages  or  interest  which  they  may 
have  upon  the  possessions  and  subjects  of  the  Republic. 

His  Majesty  the  King  of  Prussia,  her  Majesty  the  Empress, 
Queen  of  Hungary  and  Bohemia,  and  her  Majesty  the  Empress 
of  all  the  Russias  believe  it  their  duty  to  announce  their  inten- 
tions to  the  whole  Polish  nation,  requesting  them  to  banish,  or 
at  least  suppress,  the  spirit  of  disorder,  so  that  the  nation, 
coming  together  legally,  can  concert  in  the  diet  with  the  three 
courts  in  regard  to  the  means  for  reestablishing  order  and 
tranquillity,  as  well  as  to  confirm  by  formal  acts  the  exchange 
of  titles  and  claims  of  each  of  the  powers  to  those  regions  of 
which  they  have  just  taken  possession. 

Maria  Theresa  was  heartily  ashamed  of  her  part  in 
the  First  Partition  of  Poland.  She  v^rites  as  follows  to 
Archduke  Ferdinand,  her  son,  explaining  and  excusing 
her  course. 

Laxenburg,  September  17,  [1772] 
.   .  .  Firmian   will    receive    a  lengthy   document  with    in- 
structions in  regard  to  our  present  situation,  our  engagements 
toward   Russia,   Prussia,   and    the  Turks,  but    particularly  in 
regard  to  this  unfortunate  partition  of  Poland,  which  is  costing 


The  Wars  of  Frederick  the  Great  85 

me  ten  years  of  my  life.    It  will  make  plain  the  whole  unhappy  42.  Letter  of 

his:ory  of  that  affair.    How  many  times  have  I  refused  to  agree  ^^"^  ^he- 

.    ■    -r.        1  •  r         1  •  1  1  1        1      rr-     1         rssa  on  the 

to  It !  But  disaster  after  disaster  heaped  upon  us  by  the  1  urks  ;  partition  of 

misery,  famine,  and  pestilence  at  home  ;  no  hope  of  assistance  Poland 
either  from  France  or  England,  and  the  prospect  of  being  left 
isolated  and  threatened  with  a  war  both  with  Russia  and  Prus- 
sia, —  it  was  all  these  considerations  that  finally  forced  me  to 
accede  to  that  unhappy  proposal,  which  will  remain  a  blot  on 
my  whole  reign.  God  grant  that  I  be  not  held  responsible  for 
it  in  the  other  world  !  I  confess  that  I  cannot  keep  from  talk- 
ing about  this  affair.  I  have  taken  it  so  to  heart  that  it  poisons 
and  imbitters  all  my  days,  which  even  without  that  are  sad 
enough.  I  must  stop  writing  about  it  at  once,  or  I  shall  worry 
myself  into  the  blackest  melancholy.  .  .   . 

The  king  of  Prussia  in  his  proclamation  to  the  people 
of  the  Polish  districts  seized  in  the  Second  Partition 
makes  many  dark  allusions  to  the  doctrines  of  the 
French  Revolution,  the  effects  of  which  he  pretends  to 
dread  since  the  new  ideas  are  being  widely  accepted,  as 
he  alleges,  in  Poland. 

We  Frederick  William,  by  the  grace  of  God,  king  of  Prussia,  43.  Fred- 

etc,  make  known  to  the  respective  states,  bishops,  abbots,  voi-  enckWiiham 

1  ^^  ,  ,        ,      ,   •  1  -1  Il'sprocla- 

vodes,  castellans,  stahrosts,  chamberlains,  and  country  judges  ;  mation  to  the 

the  knighthood,  vassals,  and  nobles,  the  magistrates  and  inhab-  Polish  dis- 

itants  of  the  cities,  the  countrymen,  and  all   the  remainder  to^p^ussiain 

of  the   spiritual  and  secular  inhabitants  of  the  voivodeships  the  Second 

of  Posen,  Gnesen,  Kalish,  Siradia,  the  city  and  monastery  of  Partition 

Chentochova,   the    province  of  Wielun ;    the  voivodeship   of 

Lentschitz,  the  province  of  Cujavia,  the  province  of  Doorzyn, 

the  voivodeships  of  Rava  and  Plotsk,  etc.,  in  the  circle  of  the 

boundaries,  as  likewise  the  cities  of  Dantzic  and  Thorn,  hitherto 

in  the  possession  of  the  cro^^^l  of  Poland,  our  gracious  will, 

royal  grace,  and  all  sorts  of  good,  and  give  them  the  following 

most  gracious  notice  : 

It  is  universally  kno\vn  that  the  Polish  nation  never  ceased 

to  afford  to  the  neighboring  powers,  and  chiefly  to  the  Prussian 


86  Readings  in  Modern  European  History 

The  spirit  of  State,  frequent  reasons  of  just  discontent.  Not  satisfied  (con- 
rebellion  in-  ^j-^j-y  ^Q  ^  \\A^%  of  good  neighborhood)  with  injuring  the 
Poland  Prussian  territory  by  frequent  invasions,  with  molesting  and 

ill  using  the  subjects  on  this  side  the  frontiers,  and  with  almost 
continually  refusing  them  justice  and  lawful  satisfaction  ;  this 
nation  has,  besides,  always  busied  itself  with  pernicious  plans, 
which  must  needs  attract  the  attention  of  the  neighboring 
powers.  These  are  matters  of  fact  which  could  not  escape 
the  eye  of  an  attentive  observer  of  the  late  occurrences  in 
Poland  :  but  what  chiefly  excited  the  serious  consideration  of 
the  neighboring  powers  is  the  spirit  of  rebellion  continually 
increasing  in  Poland,  and  the  visible  influence  which  was 
obtained  by  those  abominable  factions,  through  which  all  civil, 
political,  and  religious  ties  would  have  been  dissolved,  and  the 
inhabitants  of  Poland  exposed  to  all  the  tremendous  conse- 
quences of  anarchy,  and  plunged  into  miseries,  the  end  of 
w^hich  could  not  be  foreseen. 

If  in  every  country  the  adoption  and  spreading  of  such 
destructive  principles  be  always  attended  with  the  loss  of  the 
tranquillity  and  happiness  of  its  inhabitants,  its  destructive 
consequences  are  the  more  to  be  dreaded  in  a  country  like 
Poland  ;  since  this  nation  has  always  distinguished  itself  by 
disturbances  and  party  spirit,  and  is  powerful  enough  of  itself 
to  become  dangerous  to  its  neighbors  by  these  disturbances. 
To  await  an  It  would  certainly  militate  against  the  first  rules  of  sound 
actual  out-     policy,  as  well  as  the  duties  incumbent  on  us  for  the  preserva- 

break  IS  dan-     .  .  ,         .    .  ...  ,  . 

gerous  tio^  oi   tranquillity  in  our  dominions,  if,  m  such  a  state  of 

things  in  a  neighboring  great  kingdom,  we  should  remain  inac- 
tive spectators,  and  wait  for  the  period  when  the  factions  feel 
themselves  strong  enough  to  appear  in  public,  thus  exposing 
our  own  neighboring  provinces  to  several  dangers  from  the 
consequences  of  anarchy  on  our  frontiers. 

We  have,  therefore,  in  conjunction  with  her  Majesty  the 
Empress  of  Russia,  and  with  the  assent  of  his  Majesty  the 
Roman  Emperor,  acknowledged  that  the  safety  of  our  states 
did  require  to  set  to  the  republic  of  Poland  such  boundaries  as 
are  more  compatible  with  her  interior  strength  and  situation, 
and  may  the  more  readily  afford  to  her  the  means  of  procuring, 


TJie  Wars  of  Frederick  tJie  Great  87 

without  prejudice  to  her  liberty,  a  well-ordered,  solid,  and 
active  form  of  government ;  of  maintaining  herself  in  the  undis- 
turbed enjoyment  of  the  same ;  and  of  preventing,  by  these 
means,  the  disturbances  which  have  so  often  shaken  her  own 
tranquillity  and  endangered  the  safety  of  her  neighbors. 

In  order  to  attain  this  end,  and  to  preserve  the  republic  of  Frederick 
Poland  from   the  dreadful  consequences  which  must  be  the  Wilham  seeks 
result  of   her  internal  divisions,  and  to  rescue  her  from  her  poig^  f^om 
utter  ruin  but  chiefly  to  withdraw  her  inhabitants  from  the  pernicious 
horrors  of  the  destructive  doctrines  which  they  are  bent  to  ^o^*"'^^^ 
follow  ;   there  is,  acccording  to  our  thorough  persuasion   (to 
which  also  her  Majesty  the  Empress  of  all  the  Russian  ac- 
cedes), no  other   means   except   to   incorporate   her  frontier 
provinces   into  our  states,   and  for  this  purpose  immediately 
to  take  possession  of  the  same,  and  to  prevent,  in  time,  all 
misfortunes  which   might  arise  from  the  continuance  of  the 
reciprocal  disturbances. 

Wherefore  we  have  resolved,  with  the  assent  of  her  Russian 
majesty,  to  take  possession  of  the  above-mentioned  districts  of 
Poland,  and  also  of  the  cities  of  Dantzic  and  Thorn,  in  order 
to  incorporate  them  into  our  dominions. 

We  herewith  publicly  announce  our  firm  and  unshaken  reso-  The  Polish 
lution,  and  expect  that  the  Polish  nation  will  soon  assemble  in  ^^^'^  advised 

'  ^  1  J      r  ^°  accept  the 

the  diet,  and  adopt  the  necessary  measures  to  the  end  of  set-  partition 
tling  things  in  an  amicable  manner,  and  of  obtaining  the  salu-  peacefully 
tary  end  of  securing  to  the  republic  of  Poland  an  undisturbed 
peace,  and  preserving  her  inhabitants  from  the  terrible  conse- 
quences of  anarchy.  At  the  same  time,  we  exhort  the  states 
and  inhabitants  of  the  districts  and  towns  which  we  have  taken 
possession  of,  as  already  mentioned,  both  in  a  gracious  and 
serious  manner,  not  to  oppose  our  commanders  and  troops 
ordered  for  that  purpose,  but  rather  tractably  to  submit  to 
our  government,  and  acknowledge  us,  from  this  day  forward, 
as  their  lawful  king  and  sovereign,  to  behave  like  loyal  and 
obedient  subjects,  and  to  renounce  all  connection  with  the 
crown  of  Poland. 

We  doubt  not  that  all  whom  this  may  concern  will  attend  to 
it  with  obedience  ;  but  in  case,  and  contrary  to  all  expectation, 


88  Readings  i)i  Modern  European  History 

some  one  or  other  state  and  inhabitants  of  the  said  districts 
and  towns  should  refuse  to  obey  the  contents  of  this,  and  not 
take  the  oath  of  allegiance  or  submit  to  our  government,  or 
should  even  attempt  to  oppose  our  commanders  and  troops, 
such  person  or  persons  have  unavoidably  to  expect  that  the 
punishment  usual  in  such  cases  shall  be  inflicted  upon  them 
without  any  distinction. 

In  witness  whereof  we  have  subscribed  this  proclamation 
with  our  own  hand,  and  caused  our  royal  seal  to  be  set  to  it, 
to  be  published  in  due  place,  and  to  be  publicly  printed. 

Done  at  Berlin  the  25th  of  March,  1793. 

Frederick  William 

In  the  agreement  between  Russia  and  Austria  for  the 
final  division  of  Poland,  dated  January  3,  1795,  the  fol- 
lowing reasons  are  given  for  the  action  of  the  powers. 

44.  Declara-         The  efforts  which  her  Imperial  Majesty  has  been  obliged 

tion  of  the       to  take  in  order  to  repress  and  stifle  the  revolt  and  insurrec- 

powers  con-     ^-^^^  which  broke  out  in  Poland  through  the  spread  of  the  most 

cerning  the 

final  partition  pernicious  doctrines,  so  dangerous  for  the  tranquillity  of  the 

of  Poland        neighboring  powers,  have  been  crowned  with  the  most  happy 
U795)  ^^^  complete  success,  and  Poland  has  been  entirely  pacified 

and  conquered  by  the  arms  of  the  Empress.  Her  Majesty,  with 
a  confidence  founded  upon  the  justice  of  her  cause,  and  the 
means  which  she  resorted  to,  to  assure  its  triumph,  had  pre- 
viously hastened  to  come  to  an  agreement  with  her  two  allies, 
his  Majesty  the  Emperor  of  the  Romans  and  his  Majesty  the 
King  of  Prussia,  upon  the  most  efficient  measures  to  be  taken 
in  order  to  prevent  a  revival  of  such  disorders  as  those  which 
had  so  justly  alarmed  them,  and  of  which  the  germs,  continu- 
ally fermenting  in  the  minds  of  those  who  were  profoundly 
imbued  with  the  most  perverse  principles,  could  hardly  fail  to 
develop  sooner  or  later  unless  they  were  prevented  by  a  firm 
and  vigorous  government. 

These  two  sovereigns,  convinced  by  past  experience  of  the 
absolute  incapacity  of  the  republic  of  Poland  to  give  itself  such 


The  Wars  of  Frederick  the  Great  89 

a  government,  or  to  live  peacefully  under  its  laws  so  long  as  it  A  solution  of 
maintained  any  degree  of  independence,  have  in  their  wisdom  the  Pohsh 
and  in  their  love  for  peace  and  the  happiness  of  their  subjects,  Anally  reached 
reached  the  conclusion  that  it  was  indispensably  necessary  to 
have  recourse  and  proceed   to   a  complete   partition  of   this 
republic  among  the  three  neighboring  powers.    Having  learned 
their  views  and  finding  these  perfectly  in  harmony  with  her 
own,  her  Imperial  Majesty  of  all  the  Russias  determined  to 
negotiate  first  with  each  of  the  two  high  allies  above  mentioned, 
separately,  and  then  with  the  two  together,  in  regard  to  a  defi- 
nite agreement  as  to  the  respective  portions  which  should  fall 
to  each  as  a  result  of  their  common  resolution. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  STRUGGLE  BETWEEN  FRANCE  AND 
ENGLAND  FOR  INDIA 

Section  l6.    Hozu  Europe  begmi  to  extend  its  Com- 
merce over  the  Whole  World 

One  of  the  noted  Italian  scholars  of  the  first  half  of 
the  fifteenth  century,  Poggio  Bracciolini,  thus  narrates  a 
conversation  he  had  with  a  Venetian  merchant  who  had 
visited  India  and  returned  to  Italy  about  1440.  This 
gives  us  some  idea  of  the  overland  journey  before  Vasco 
da  Gama  had  opened  the  way  by  water  around  Africa. 

45.  An  ac-  A  certain  Venetian  named  Nicolo,  who  had  penetrated  to 

count  of  the    ^^  interior  of  India,  came  to  Pope  Eugenius  IV  (he  being 

overland  ,ri  i-  -r-i  \ri  r 

route  to  India  then  for  the  second  time  at  r  lorence)  for  the  purpose  of  crav- 
in  the  ing  absolution,  inasmuch  as,  when,  on  his  return  from  India, 

centu^*^  he  had  arrived  at  the  confines  of  Eg>-pt  on  the  Red  Sea,  he 
was  compelled  to  renounce  his  faith,  not  so  much  from  fear  of 
death  to  himself  as  from  the  danger  which  threatened  his  wife 
and  children  who  accompanied  him.  I,  being  very  desirous  of 
his  conversation  (for  I  had  heard  of  many  things  related  by 
him  which  were  well  worth  knowing),  questioned  him  diligently, 
both  in  the  meetings  of  learned  men  and  at  my  own  house, 
upon  many  matters  which  seemed  to  dese'rve  committing  to 
memory  and  to  writing. 

He  discoursed  learnedly  and  gravely  concerning  his  journey 
to  such  remote  nations,  of  the  situation  and  different  manners 
and  customs  of  the  Indians,  also  of  their  animals  and  trees  and 
spices,  and  in  what  place  each  thing  is  produced.  His  accounts 
bore  all  the  appearance  of  being  true  and  not  fabrications.    He 

90 


Struggle  betzveeft  France  and  England  for  India      9 1 

went  farther  than  any  former  traveler  ever  penetrated,  so  far 
as  our  records  inform  us.  For  he  crossed  the  Ganges  and 
traveled  far  beyond  the  island  of  Taprobana  [i.e.  Ceylon],  a 
point  which  there  is  no  evidence  that  any  European  had  pre- 
viously reached,  with  the  exception  of  the  commander  of  a 
fleet  of  Alexander  the  Great,  and  a  Roman  citizen  in  the 
time  of  Tiberius  Claudius  Caesar,  both  of  whom  were  driven 
there  by  tempests. 

Nicolo,  being  a  young  man,  resided  as  a  merchant  in  the  How  trade 
city  of  Damascus  in  Syria.   Having:  learned  the  Arabic  language,  ^^'^*^  *^^^  ^^^^ 

,        1  1     ,  ....  ,         T        .  •  ,       •      was  formerly 

he  departed  thence  with  his  merchandise  m  company  with  six  carried  on 
hundred  other  merchants  (who  formed  what  is  commonly  called 
a  caravan),  with  whom  he  passed  over  the  deserts  of  Arabia 
Petrsea,  and  thence  through  Chaldaea  until  he  arrived  at  the 
Euphrates.  ...  On  the  river  Euphrates  there  is  a  noble  city, 
a  part  of  the  ancient  city  of  Babylon,  the  circumference  of  which 
is  fourteen  miles,  and  which  is  called  by  the  inhabitants  thereof 
by  the  new  name  of  Baldochia  (Bagdad).  The  river  Euphrates 
flows  through  the  center  of  the  city,  the  two  parts  of  which  are 
connected  by  a  single  bridge  of  fourteen  arches,  with  strong 
towers  at  both  ends.  Many  monuments  and  foundations  of 
buildings  of  the  ancient  city  are  still  to  be  seen.  In  the  upper 
part  of  the  city  there  is  a  very  strong  fortress  and  also  the 
royal  palace. 

Sailing  hence  for  the  space  of  twenty  days  down  the  river, 
in  which  he  saw  many  noble  and  cultivated  islands,  and  then 
traveling  for  eight  days  through  the  country,  he  arrived  at  a 
city  called  Balsera  (Bassorah),  and  in  four  days'  journey  beyond, 
at  the  Persian  Gulf  where  the  sea  rises  and  falls  in  the  manner 
of  the  Atlantic  Ocean.  Sailing  through  this  gulf  for  the  space 
of  five  days  he  came  to  the  port  of  Colcus  and  afterward  to 
Ormuz  (which  is  a  small  island  in  the  said  gulf),  distant  from 
the  mainland  twelve  miles.  Leaving  this  island  and  turning 
towards  India  for  the  space  of  one  hundred  miles  he  arrived 
at  the  city  of  Calacatia,  a  very  noble  emporium  of  the  Persians. 
Here  having  remained  for  some  time,  he  learned  the  Persian 
language,  of  which  he  afterwards  made  great  use,  and  also 
adopted  the  dress  of  the  country,  which  he  continued  to  wear 


92 


Readings  m  Modern  Eitropeajt  History 


46.  King 
Manuel's 
letter  to  the 
king  and 
queen  of  Cas- 
tile, announc- 
ing Vasco  da 
Gama's  voy- 
age to  India 


A  rich  trade 
in  spices  and 
precious 
stones  is 
promised 


during  the  whole  period  of  his  travels.  Subsequently  he  and 
some  Persian  merchants  freighted  a  ship  and,  having  first  taken 
a  solemn  oath  to  be  faithful  and  loyal  companions  one  to 
another,   [sailed  for  India]. 

The  king  of  Portugal  had  the  satisfaction  of  an- 
nouncing to  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  of  Spain  in  July, 
1499,  that  his  mariners  had  made  a  discovery  almost 
equal  in  importance  to  that  of  Columbus,  who  had  set 
sail  under  the  auspices  of  the  queen  of  Castile  seven 
years  before. 

Most  high  and  excellent  Prince  and  Princess^  most  potent 
Lo7'd  and  Lady : 

Your  Highnesses  already  know  that  we  had  ordered  Vasco 
da  Gama,  a  nobleman  of  our  household,  and  his  brother  Paulo 
da  Gama  with  four  vessels  to  make  discoveries  by  sea,  and  that 
two  years  have  now  elapsed  since  their  departure.  And  since 
the  principal  motive  of  this  enterprise  has  been,  as  with  our 
predecessors,  the  service  of  God  our  Lord  and  our  own  advan- 
tage, it  pleased  him  in  his  mercy  to  speed  them  on  their  route. 

From  a  message  which  has  now  been  brought  to  this  city  by 
one  of  the  captains,  we  learn  that  they  did  reach  and  discover 
India  and  other  kingdoms  and  lordships  bordering  upon  it ; 
that  they  entered  and  navigated  its  seas,  finding  large  cities, 
large  edifices  and  rivers,  and  great  populations,  among  whom 
is  carried  on  all  the  trade  in  spices  and  precious  stones  which 
are  forwarded  in  ships  (which  these  same  explorers  saw  and 
met  with  in  good  numbers  and  of  great  size)  to  Mecca  and 
thence  to  Cairo,  whence  they  are  dispersed  throughout  the 
world.  Of  these  spices  they  have  brought  a  quantity,  including 
cinnamon,  cloves,  ginger,  nutmeg,  and  pepper,  as  well  as  other 
kinds,  together  with  the  boughs  and  leaves  of  the  same ;  also 
many  fine  stones  of  all  sorts,  such  as  rubies  and  others.  And 
they  also  came  to  a  country  in  which  there  are  mines  of  gold, 
of  which,  as  of  the  spices  and  precious  stones,  they  did  not 
bring  as  much  as  they  could  have  done,  for  they  took  no 
merchandise  with  them. 


Struggle  between  France  and  England  for  India      9  3 

As  we  are  aware  that  your  Highnesses  will  hear  of  these 
things  with  much  pleasure  and  satisfaction,  we  thought  it  well 
to  give  this  information.  And  your  Highnesses  may  believe, 
in  accordance  with  what  we  have  learnt  concerning  the  Chris- 
tian people  whom  these  explorers  reached,  that  it  will  be  pos- 
sible (notwithstanding  that  they  are  not  as  yet  strong  in  the 
faith  or  possessed  of  a  thorough  knowledge  of  it)  to  do  much 
in  the  service  of  God  and  the  exaltation  of  the  Holy  Faith, 
once  they  shall  have  been  converted  and  fully  fortified  in  it. 
And  when  they  shall  have  thus  been  fortified  in  the  faith  there 
will  be  an  opportunity  for  destroying  the  Moors  [i.e.  Moham- 
medans] of  those  parts. 

Moreover,  we  hope,  with  the  help  of  God,  that  the  great  An  opportu- 
trade,  which  now  enriches  the  Moors  of  those  parts  through  J"ty  afforded 
whose  hands  it  passes  without  the  intervention  of  other  persons  ing  Moham- 
or  peoples,  shall  be  diverted,  in  consequence  of  our  regulations,  to  medans 
the  natives  and  ships  of  our  own  kingdom,  so  that  thenceforth 
all  Christendom  in  this  part  of  Europe  shall  be  able  in  a  large 
measure  to  provide  itself  with  these  spices  and  precious  stones. 
This,  with  the  help  of  God,  who  in  his  mercy  thus  ordained  it, 
will  cause  our  designs  and  intentions  to  be  pushed  with  more 
ardor  especially  as  respects  the  war  upon  the  Moors  of  the  terri- 
tories conquered  by  us  in  these  parts,  which  your  Highnesses 
are  so  firmly  resolved  upon  and  in  which  we  are  equally  zealous. 

And  we  pray  your  Highnesses,  in  consideration  of  this 
great  favor,  which  with  much  gratitude  we  received  from 
our  Lord,  to  cause  to  be  addressed  to  him  those  praises 
which  are  his  due. 

Most  high  and  excellent  Prince  and  Princess,  most  potent 
Lord  and  Lady,  may  the  Lord  our  God  ever  hold  your  persons 
and  kingdoms  in  his  holy  keeping. 

Written  at  Lisbon,  July,  1499 

The  rapid  extension  of  the  Portuguese  commerce  in 
India  under  the  leadership  of  Albuquerque,  who  died  in 
15 15,  is  enthusiastically  summed  up  in  the  follov^ing 
account  of  his  achievements. 


94  Readings  in  Modem  European  History 

47.  How  the       The  great  Affonso  de  Albuquerque,  perceiving  the  desires  of 

Portuguese   King  Manuel  for  universal  peace  in  India,  .  .  .  labored  ear- 

tablished       nestly  SO  long  as  he  lived  to  preserve  harmony  with  all  the 

themselves    kings  and  Hindoo  lords  of  those  parts,  maintaining  with  them 

in  India        ^  constant  intercourse,  sending  his  messengers  to  them  and. 

offering  to  place  at  their  disposal  the  fleets  of  the  king  of 

Portugal  for  the  destruction  of  the  Moors,  and  the  casting 

them  out  of  the  country.  .  .  . 

The  Portu-         At  the  time  of  Affonso  de  Albuquerque's  death,  peace  was 

guese  pacify  universal  from  Ormuz  to  Ceylon,  .  .  .  and  all  the  kings,  lords, 
the  East  ,  .  ,  i     •,       •  •        i       i     ,       1    r 

and  marme  merchants,  and  the  interior  lands  he  left  so  quiet 

and  well  ordered  that  there  never  was  a  nation  left  so  com- 
pletely conquered  and  subdued  by  force  of  arms  as  this  was. 
And  the  land  had  by  this  time  become  so  pacified  that  the 
Portuguese  used  to  carry  on  their  merchant  business  in  every 
place,  without  being  robbed  of  anything  or  being  taken  cap- 
tive ;  and  they  used  to  navigate  the  whole  of  the  Indian  sea 
in  their  ships,  vessels,  small  and  large  zambucos,  and  used  to 
cross  the  sea  in  safety  from  one  part  to  another;  and  the 
natives  on  their  part  used  to  visit  Goa  with  their  wares  without 
any  molestation  being  offered  to  them.  .  .  . 

And  when  the  Moors  beheld  the  apparently  slight  power  of 
fleets  and  fighting  men  belonging  to  the  king  of  Portugal  in 
India,  they  looked  upon  these  conquests  and  successes  as 
nothing  less  than  miracles.  Affonso  de  Albuquerque,  with  that 
greatness  of  spirit  which  always  characterized  him,  frequently 
used  to  say  that  he  trusted  in  our  Lord  for  taking  Aden  and 
establishing  the  Portuguese  therein,  so  as  to  be  thereby  en- 
abled to  close  the  straits  with  a  powerful  fortress,  thus  com- 
pelling the  Grand  Sultan  finally  to  abandon  his  hope  of 
becoming  chief  lord  of  India ;  and  when  this  had  been  suc- 
cessfully carried  out,  then  to  return  again  to  Portugal  for  a 
short  rest,  to  lean  a  little  while  on  the  handle  of  the  hoe. 
But  our  Lord  in  his  divine  providence  cut  all  this  short  when 
he  took  him  to  himself. 
Portuguese  At  the  time  of  Affonso  de  Albuquerque's  death  he  left  in 
strongholds    Malacca  — twice  captured  by  his  arms  from  the  Moors  —  a  very 

in  the   East  1  r  -^        1       r  •    ,  ,  ,  r  -n  1 

strongly  fortified  fortress,  with  ample  supplies  of  artillery  and 


Struggle  betzvcen  France  and  England  for  India      95 

plenty  of  men  to  keep  it.  He  left  another  in  Ormuz,  com- 
pleted and  furnished  with  a  large  body  of  soldiers  and  a  great 
quantity  of  guns,  and  all  that  kingdom  under  the  obedience  of 
the  king  of  Portugal  —  this  too  he  had  captured  on  two  occa- 
sions from  the  Moors.  He  left  a  fortress  in  Calicut,  of  great 
defensive  strength,  provided  with  men  and  guns.  He  left  the 
fortress  of  Cochin  finished  and  in  the  same  condition  as  it  now 
stands,  —  he  had  commenced  to  build  it  on  the  occasion  of  his 
first  visit  to  India,  —  furnished  with  seven  very  large  elephants 
employed  in  the  shipyard  on  the  beach.  He  rebuilt  the  for- 
tress of  Cananore  with  stone  and  mortar,  for  up  to  that  time  it 
was  built  with  mud.  He  left  fleets  attached  to  all  these  for- 
tresses for  their  protection  and  maintenance. 

He  left  the  city  of  Goa  fortified  with  many  castles  set  around  The  Portu- 
the  island  for  its  safety  —  this  too  had  been  taken  twice  under  ^'^^^^  "^^^^  °^ 
his  assault  from  the  Moors.  He  left  therein  many  Portuguese 
families,  many  Hindoos  converted  to  Christianity,  and  a  large 
body  of  mounted  men.  He  left  many  armorers,  and  officers 
employed  in  the  setting  of  jewels  and  precious  stones,  saddle 
makers,  buckler  makers,  blacksmiths,  stone  masons,  gun  found- 
ers, master  workmen  skilled  in  the  making  of  matchlocks,  ships' 
carpenters,  caulkers ;  and  the  greater  part  of  these  were  Por- 
tuguese, the  rest  native  Christians,  as  true  vassals  and  subjects 
of  the  king  of  Portugal  as  though  they  were  natives  of  Portugal. 

He  left  the  magazines  of  Goa  supplied  with  large  quantities 
of  weapons,  many  caparisons  for  horses,  many  saddles,  much 
store  of  gunpowder,  cannon  balls,  and  all  other  kinds  of  neces- 
sary munitions  of  war.  .  .  .  He  ordered  money  to  be  struck  at 
Goa  and  Malacca  in  the  name  of  the  king  of  Portugal ;  and  this 
was  current  throughout  the  whole  of  India.  He  was  the  first 
captain  of  the  king  of  Portugal  who  penetrated  the  Straits  of 
the  Red  Sea. 

Section  ly.    England  gai7is  a  FootJiold  iii  India 

The  English  East  India  Company  was  chartered  in 
1 60 1.  In  1 6 14  Sir  Thomas  Roe  was  instructed  by  James  I 
to  visit  the  court  of  Jehangir,  the  Mongol  emperor  of 


96 


Readings  in  Modern  EiLropean  History 


Hindustan.  Sir  Thomas  was  to  make  a  commercial 
agreement  and  to  secure  for  the  East  India  Company 
sites  for  commercial  agencies, —  ''factories,"  as  they 
were  called.  Sir  Thomas  was  successful,  and  Jehangir 
sent  the  following  remarkably  poUte  letter  to  James  I. 


48.  Letter  of 
the  Great 
Mogul  to 
James  I 
welcoming 
English 
traders 


When  your  Majesty  shall  open  this  letter  let  your  royal  heart 
be  as  fresh  as  a  sweet  garden.  Let  all  people  make  reverence 
at  your  gate ;  let  your  throne  be  advanced  higher ;  amongst 
the  greatness  of  the  kings  of  the  prophet  Jesus,  let  your  Majesty 
be  the  greatest,  and  all  monarchies  derive  their  counsel  and 
wisdom  from  your  breast  as  from  a  fountain,  that  the  law  of  the 
majesty  of  Jesus  may  revive  and  flourish  under  your  protection. 

The  letter  of  love  and  friendship  which  you  sent  and  the 
presents,  tokens  of  your  good  affection  toward  me,  I  have 
received  by  the  hands  of  your  ambassador,  Sir  Thomas  Roe 
(who  well  deserveth  to  be  your  trusted  servant),  delivered  to 
me  in  an  acceptable  and  happy  hour ;  upon  which  mine  eyes 
were  so  fixed  that  I  could  not  easily  remove  them  to  any  other 
object,  and  have  accepted  them  with  great  joy  and  delight. 

Upon  which  assurance  of  your  royal  love  I  have  given  my 
general  command  to  all  the  kingdoms  and  ports  of  my  domin- 
ions to  receive  all  the  merchants  of  the  English  nation  as  the 
subjects  of  my  friend ;  that  in  what  place  soever  they  choose 
to  live,  they  may  have  reception  and  residence  to  their  own 
content  and  safety ;  and  what  goods  soever  they  desire  to  sell 
or  buy,  they  may  have  free  liberty  without  any  restraint ;  and 
at  what  port  soever  they  shall  arrive,  that  neither  Portugal  nor 
any  other  shall  dare  to  molest  their  quiet ;  and  in  what  city 
soever  they  shall  have  residence,  I  have  commanded  all  my 
governors  and  captains  to  give  them  freedom  answerable  to 
their  own  desires;  to  sell,  buy,  and  to  transport  into  their 
country  at  their  pleasure. 

For  confirmation  of  our  love  and  friendship,  I  desire  your 
Majesty  to  command  your  merchants  to  bring  in  their  ships 
all  sorts  of  rarities  and  rich  goods  fit  for  my  palace  ;  and 
that  you  be  pleased  to  send  me  your  royal  letters  by  every 


Struggle  between  France  and  England  for  India      97 

opportunity,  that  I  may  rejoice  in  your  health'  and  prosperous 
affairs ;  that  our  friendship  may  be  interchanged  and  eternal. 

Your  Majesty  is  learned  and  quick-sighted  as  a  prophet, 
and  can  conceive  so  much  by  few  words  that  I  need  write 
no  more. 

The  God  of  heaven  give  you  and  us  increase  of  honor. 

The  English  naturally  got  into  trouble  immediately 
with  the  Dutch  traders  in  the  East  Indies. 

A  irlation  of  the  Frenchmen  which  lately  arrived  into  France 
in  a  ship  of  Dieppe  out  of  the  East  Indies  concerning  the 
wrongs  and  abuses  which  the  Hollanders  had  lately  done 
to  the  English  there  {^16 if) 

Two  English  ships  coming  to  Banda,  in  course  of  trade  and  49.  A  French- 
traffic,  the  Hollanders  assaulted  with  certain  of  their  ships,  ^^"^'^  ^^- 
which  English  ships  in  their  resistance  and  defense  the  said  hostility  of 
Hollanders  took,  slew  seven  or  eight  of  their  men  (whereof  the  Dutch  to 
one  was  a  chief  factor),  chained  the  captain,  merchants,  and  ^ader'^^  6  -7) 
mariners,  and  put  the  mariners  into  their  galleys.   All  the  muni- 
tion and  victuals  in  the  said  English  ships  did  the  Hollanders 
take  out  and  carried  the  same  ashore,  challenging  all  to  be 
theirs  as  their  proper  inheritance,  and  therefore  will  be  lords 
of  the  same. 

The  Hollanders  likewise  took  an  English  bark  going  from 
Bantam  ^  to  Jacatra,  slew  some  of  her  men,  wounded  many 
more,  chained  the  captain  and  mariners,  and  carried  away  the 
said  bark  at  the  stern  of  one  of  their  ships  into  Bantam  Road, 
and  there  anchored  close  by  the  admiral  of  the  English  in  most 
despiteful  and  daring  manner,  making  their  vaunts  that  they 
were  the  chief  people  of  all  Europe ;  and  to  make  a  show  of 
the  same  they  advanced  their  own  arms  and  colors,  and  under 
them  placed  the  colors  of  England  and  France,  and  then  shot 
at  the  said  English  and  French  colors  in  most  contemptuous 
and  disdainful  manner. 

1  Bantam  was  originally  the  chief  settlement  of  the  Dutch  in  Java, 
near  the  Strait  of  Sunda,  somewhat  to  the  west  of  the  present  important 
port  of  Batavia. 


gS  Readings  in  Modern  European  Hiswry 

At  Bantam  the  English  and  Hollanders  had  great  disputes, 
insomuch  as  it  was  verily  thought  they  would  have  fought  to- 
gether in  the  road ;  for  the  general  of  the  Hollanders  had  brought 
thither  fourteen  great  ships,  ready  to  fight,  where  the  English 
had  nine,  which  they  fitted  for  defense  ;  but  they  fought  not, 
for  the  governor  of  Bantam  forbade  them  to  fight  in  his  road, 
and  threatened  them  that  if  they  did  fight  contrary  to  his  com- 
mand he  would  cut  the  throats  of  all  their  men  that  he  should 
find  upon  the  land. 

The  27th  of  November  the  Hollanders  proclaimed  war 
against  all  the  English  at  the  Moluccas,  Banda,  and  Amboyna, 
threatening  to  make  one  and  all  prizes  and  to  put  them  to  the 
edge  of  the  sword;  which  proclamation  of  theirs  they  fixed 
upon  the  doors  of  their  lodgings  at  Bantam,  challenging  all 
to  be  theirs  as  their  proper  inheritance. 

Colbert  was  well  aware  of  the  successful  manner  in 
which  the  Dutch  were  supplanting  the  Portuguese  in 
India  in  his  time,  and  he  consequently  instructed  the 
French  ambassador  to  Portugal,  Saint-Romain,  to  per- 
suade the  Portuguese  to  unite  with  the  French  East 
India  Company  for  the  purpose  of  defending  them- 
selves against  the  Dutch.  It  is  clear  that  he  hardly 
regarded  the  English  as  serious  competitors  in  1669 
when  he  drew  up  the  following  summary  of  the  situation. 

Paris,  March  16,  1669 
50.  Colbert's       His  lordship  of  Saint-Romain  is  well  informed  of  the  pains 

view  of  the     ^yj-^j^h  his  Majesty  has  taken  to  create  the  East  India  Company, 

situation  in  r  ,  •  i  •   i     i  •  •  i      r    i 

India  in  1669  of  the  powerful  protection  which  he  gives  it,  and  of  the  great 

sums  of  money  which  he  has  had  furnished  from  the  royal 
treasury  for  its  establishment  and  for  the  support  of  the  great 
losses  which  it  has  already  sustained  and  which  it  will  continue 
to  sustain  until  the  directors  who  are  at  present  in  the  Indies 
have  firmly  secured  the  commerce,  and  surmounted  the  diffi- 
culties that  all  enterprises  of  this  kind  meet  in  their  com- 
mencement. .  .  . 


Struggle  between  France  and  England  for  India      99 

It  is  certain  that  of  the  four  important  nations  of  Europe  How  the 
which  traffic  in  the  Indies,  namely,  the  French,  the  English,  Dutch  sup- 
the  Portuguese,  and  the  Dutch,  the  Portuguese  have  been  for  Portuguese 
a  long  time  alone  in  possession  of  this  commerce  after  having 
brought  under  their  domination  all  the  isles  of  Asia  and  estab- 
lished divers  places  and  important  posts  on  all  the  coasts  of 
Africa,  of  Persia,  of  the  Indies,  of  China,  and  of  Japan ;  but 
it  is  certain  also  that  this  great  power  has  notably  diminished 
since  the  Dutch  began  their  commerce  in  these  same  countries, 
and  that  this  power  finds  itself  reduced  at  present  to  the  single 
places  of   Goa,  Diu,  and  some  others  less  important  on  the 
Coromandel  coast. 

The  Dutch  are  at  present  masters  of  all  the  isles  and  even  Conduct  of 
of  all  the  countries  which  produce  the  spices  ;  and  in  their  *)^^  Dutch  in 

^  .  ^  the  bpice 

effort  to  preserve  for  themselves  this  commerce,  they  destroy  islands 
and  depopulate  in  all  the  spice  countries,  either  on  account  of 
the  difficulty  of  rendering  themselves  absolute  masters  there, 
or  because  they  think  that  it  is  to  the  advantage  of  their  com- 
merce that  there  should  not  be  so  great  an  abundance.  And 
not  only  does  their  effort  carry  them  to  this  point  —  it  passes 
indeed  even  beyond  it  and  leads  them  to  drive  away,  whenever 
they  can,  all  the  other  nations  and  make  themselves  masters  of 
everything.  The  bad  treatment  they  gave  the  English,  which 
drew  upon  them  the  last  war,  the  expenses  and  risk  of  which 
are  of  no  consideration  to  them,  seeing  that  they  have  suc- 
ceeded in  driving  the  English  from  their  establishment  in  the 
island  of  Poulo-Ron  ;  all  the  measures  which  have  served  them 
in  winning  from  the  Portuguese  the  island  of  Ceylon  and  all 
the  other  isles,  even  in  taking,  in  violation  of  treaties,  the  vil- 
lages of  Cochin  and  of  Cananore  ;  and  in  general  all  that  the 
Dutch  have  done  in  these  countries  since  they  have  brought 
their  avarice  and  tyranny  there,  of  which  the  Portuguese  are 
only  too  well  informed,  are  conclusive  proofs  that  nothing  can 
be  expected  of  them  except  the  entire  destruction  of  the  Por- 
tuguese, so  soon  as  the  Dutch  can  hope  to  compass  this  by 
force  or  by  other  means  still  more  dangerous.  And  if  one 
considers  the  state  in  which  the  Dutch  are  and  the  advantages 
which  the  public  and  private  individuals  of  their  country  draw 


mous  value 
of  the  Dutch 
trade 


100  Readmgs  m  Modern  European  History 

from  this  commerce,  together  with  the  condition  of  the  Portu- 
guese, one  will  easily  decide  that  the  time  of  complete  expulsion 
of  the  latter  from  all  these  countries  perhaps  approaches,  unless 
prompt  and  sufficient  remedy  is  employed. 
The  enor-  It  is  certain  that  the  fleets  which  arrive  every  year  in  Holland 

carry  merchandise  to  the  value  of  ten  to  twelve  million  livres, 
which  they  then  distribute  in  all  the  realms  of  Europe  and  draw 
from  it  the  money  which  causes  their  power;  that  the  company 
which  produces  this  advantage  to  the  public  of  the  country 
maintained  at  its  own  expense  as  many  as  30  vessels  during  the 
last  war  with  England  ;  that  this  same  company  has  more  than 
150  vessels  in  the  Indies,  that  it  made  and  sustained  the  war 
against  the  Portuguese  with  the  advantages  already  noticed, 
that  it  has  continued  it  against  divers  kings  of  the  same  country 
and  always  with  advantage  ;  that  it  puts  on  foot  in  the  same 
Indies  an  infantry  of  from  10  to  12  thousand  men  and  a  navy 
of  from  40  to  50  vessels  ;  that  it  is  mistress  of  all  the  isles  and 
has  alone  established  its  commerce  in  China  and  Japan, — 
it  might  even  be  said  in  all  the  Indies,  seeing  that  the  mer- 
chandise which  is  carried  by  the  English  is  not  important. 

And  on  the  contrary,  the  Portuguese  have  neither  vessels 
nor  troops,  and  there  remain  to  them  only  the  single  places  of 
Goa,  Diu,  and  certain  others  of  less  consideration. 

This  prodigious  difference  in  the  two  nations,  and  the  effort 
of  the  Dutch  to  preserve  themselves  and  their  strength,  make 
clear  to  the  Portuguese  the  necessity  of  a  powerful  and  effica- 
cious remedy  in  order  to  escape  entire  ruin. 
The  Portu-         The  Only  remedy  for  the  Portuguese  consists  in  forming  a 
gueseneed      partnership  and  perhaps  even  partitioning  the   districts   and 
the^Dutch^     places  which  they  still  control,  with  some  one  of  the  other 
nations  which,  having  the  same  interests,  may  join  its  power 
to  theirs,  to  render  them  by  this  means  more  formidable  to 
the  Dutch,  and  to  place  them  even  in  a  condition,  by  their 
efforts,  not  only  to  restrain  the  Dutch  within  their  present  limits, 
but  even  to  seize  a  portion  of  the  commerce  and  the  places 
that  the  Dutch  have  usurped  by  force. 

The  French  alone  are  capable  of  procuring  this  great  advan- 
tage for  the  Portuguese,  in  giving  them,  by  firm  treaties  which 


Struggle  betiveen  Frmice  and  England  for  India       i  o  i 

could  be  made  between  their  kings,  a  share  in  the  settlements 
and  the  commerce  which  remain  to  them,  seeing  that  the 
religion  of  the  English  does  not  permit  the  Portuguese  to  call 
them  into  this  partnership. 

For  this  result,  his  Majesty  desires  that  his  said  lordship  of 
Saint-Romain,  instructed  in  all  the  arguments  contained  in  this 
paper,  together  with  all  those  that  his  capacity,  his  experience, 
and  the  knowledge  that  he  may  be  able  to  get  from  the  Portu- 
guese will  furnish  him,  should  suggest  them  on  every  occasion 
to  the  mind  of  the  prince,  of  the  queen,  and  of  all  their  min- 
isters, and  work  incessantly  to  bring  them  to  treat  with  his 
Majesty  about  some  one  of  their  places  in  the  Indies,  and 
also  to  effect  a  commercial  union  between  the  French  and 
the  Portuguese,  on  conditions  of  common  advantage  to  the 
two  nations. 

Section  l8.    India  and  the  Struggle  between  England 
and  France  for  its  Possession 

In  1655  a  Frenchman,  Francois  Bernier,  made  a  jour- 
ney to  Hindustan,  and  there  became  the  court  physician 
of  the  Great  Mogul.  He  wrote  an  account  of  his  jour- 
ney and  a  number  of  letters.  A  letter  addressed  to  Col- 
bert, which  gives  an  admirable  description  of  the  state 
of  India  and  the  relations  of  the  Great  Mogul  to  the 
subject  princes  and  peoples,  is  included  in  the  following 
extract. 

He  who  reigned    there  was  called  Shah  Jehan, — that  is  51.  India 
to  say,  king  of    the   world;    who,   according   to   the   history  under  the 

c   ^u   !  .  r    T  u         •  ^.'\.      •      -a     y.  later  Moguls 

or  that   country,  was   son   of  Jehangir,  which  signmeth  con-  (ixora^ 

queror  of  the  world ;  grandchild  to  Akbar,  meaning  great ;  Bernier) 
and  thus  ascending  by  Houmayons,  or  the  fortunate,  father  of 
Akbar,  and  his  other  predecessors,  he  was  the  tenth  of  those 
that  were  descended  from  that  Timur-Lengue,  which  signifieth 
the  lame  prince,  commonly  and  corruptly  called  Tamerlane,  so 
renowned  for  his  conquests ;  who  married  his  near  kinswoman, 


I02  Readings  in  Modern  Ei  trope  an  History 

The  Moguls  the  Only  daughter  of  the  prince  of  the  nations  of  Great  Tartary, 
claim  to  be  called  Moguls,  who  have  left  and  communicated  their  name 
from  Timur  ^^  ^he  Strangers  that  now  govern  Indostan^  the  country  of  the 
Indians ;  though  those  that  are  employed  in  public  charges  and 
offices,  and  even  those  that  are  listed  in  the  militia,  be  not  all 
of  the  race  of  the  Moguls,  but  strangers  and  nations  gathered 
out  of  all  countries,  most  of  them  Persians,  some  Arabians,  and 
some  Turks.  For,  to  be  esteemed  a  Mogul  it  is  enough  to  be 
a  stranger,  white  of  face,  and  a  Mohammedan  ;  in  distinction 
as  well  to  the  Indians,  who  are  brown  and  pagans,  as  to  the 
Christians  of  Europe,  who  are  called  Franguis.   .  .   . 

From  a  letter       My  lord,  you  may  have  seen  before  this,  by  the  maps  of 
of  Bernier's     ^sia,  how  great  every  way  is  the  extent  of  the  empire  of  the 
Great  Mogul,  which  is  commonly  called  India  or  Indostan. 
Extent  of        I  have  not  measured  it  mathematically  ;   but  to  speak  of  it 
Hindustan      according  to  the  ordinary  journeys  of  the  country,  after  the 
rate  of  three  whole  months'  march,  traversing  from  the  fron- 
tiers of  the  kingdom  of  Golconda  as  far  as  beyond  Kazni  near 
Kandahar,  which  is  the  first   town   of  Persia,  I  cannot   per- 
suade myself  otherwise  but  that  it  is  at  least  five  times  as  far 
as  from  Paris  to  Lyons,  —  that  is,  about  five  hundred  common 
leagues.  .  .  . 
Tributary  In   this  same  extent  of  country  there   are  sundry  nations 

peoples  which  the   Mogul   is  not  full  master  of,  most  of   them  still 

retaining  their  particular  sovereigns  and  lords  that  neither  obey 
him  nor  pay  him  tribute  but  from  constraint ;  many  that  do 
little,  some  that  do  nothing  at  all,  and  some  also  that  receive 
tribute  from  him.   .  .   . 
The  haughty        Such  are  the  Pathans,  a  Mohammedan  people  issued  from 
Moham-         ^^  gj^^g  ^f  ^^  j-j^.gj.  Ganges  toward  Bengal,  who  before  the 
Pathans         invasion  of  the  Moguls  in  India  had  taken  their  time  to  make 
themselves  potent  in  many  places,  and  chiefly  at  Delhi,  and  to 
render  many  rajahs  thereabout  their  tributaries.    These  Pathans 
are  fierce  and  warlike,  and  even  the  meanest  of  them,  though 
they  be  but  waiting  men  and  porters,  are  still  of  a  very  high 
spirit,  being  often  heard  to  say,  by  way  of  swearing,  "  Let  me 
never  be  king  of  Delhi,  if  it  be  not  so  "  ;  a  people  that  despise 


Stniggle  betzveen  France  ajid  E7igland for  India       103 

the  Indians,  heathens,  and  Moguls,  and  mortally  hate  the  last, 
still  remembering  what  they  were  formerly,  before  they  were 
by  them  driven  away  from  their  large  principalities,  and  con- 
strained to  retire  hither  and  thither.  .   .  . 

Of  the  like  sort  are  more  than  an  hundred  rajahs,  or  con-  The  rajahs 
siderable  heathen  sovereigns,  dispersed  through  the  whole  . 
empire,  some  near  to,  others  remote  from,  Agra  and  Delhi; 
amongst  whom  there  are  about  fifteen  or  sixteen  that  are  very 
rich  and  puissant;  such  are  Rana  (who  formerly  was,  as  it 
were,  emperor  of  the  rajahs,  and  who  is  said  to  be  of  the  prog- 
eny of  King  Porus),  Jesseigne,  and  Jessomseigne,  who  are  so 
great  and  powerful  that  if  they  three  alone  should  combine 
they  would  hold  him  [i.e.  the  Great  Mogul]  back ;  each  of 
them  being  able  in  a  very  short  time  to  raise  and  bring  into 
the  field  twenty-five  thousand  horse,  better  troops  than  the 
Mogul's.  These  cavaliers  are  called  rajiputs,  or  children  of 
the  rajahs.  These  are  men  who,  as  I  have  said  elsewhere,  carry 
swords  from  father  to  son,  and  to  whom  the  rajahs  allot  land 
on  condition  that  they  be  always  ready  to  appear  on  horseback 
when  the  rajah  commands.  They  can  endure  much  hardship, 
and  they  want  nothing  but  good  order  and  discipline  to  make 
them  good  soldiers. 

It  is  evident  from  Bernier's  account  that  only  a  power- 
ful ruler  could  keep  India  from  falling  apart  into  many 
principalities,  and  it  so  happened  that  just  when  the 
French  entered  upon  their  contest  with  the  English 
over  the  Eastern  trade,  a  vigorous  emperor,  Aurangzeb 
(1 660-1 707),  occupied  the  throne.  He  was,  however, 
the  last  Great  Mogul  of  importance,  and  he  saw  in  his 
old  age  that  anarchy  was  likely  to  come  when  he  was 
gone.  His  farewell  to  this  vain  world  is  sad  indeed.  He 
thus  writes  to  a  friend  : 

Health  to  thee  !  My  heart  is  near  thee.  Old  age  is  arrived  : 
weakness  subdues  me,  and  strength  has  forsaken  all  my  mem- 
bers.   I  came  a  stranger  into  this  world  and  a  stranger  I  depart. 


empire 


104  Readmgs  in  Modern  Eiiy-opean  History 

52.  Au-  I  know  nothing  of  myself,  what  I  am,  or  for  what  I  am  destined, 
rangzeb  'pj^g  instant  which  has  passed  in  power  hath  left  only  sorrow 
the  dissoiu-  behind  it.  I  have  not  been  the  guardian  and  protector  of  the 
tionofthe  empire.  My  valuable  time  has  been  passed  vainly.  I  had  a 
emDixe^  guide  in  my  own  dwelling  (conscience),  but  his  glorious  light 
was  unseen  by  my  dim  sight.  Life  is  not  lasting ;  there  is  no 
vestige  of  departed  breath,  and  all  hopes  for  the  future  are  lost. 
The  fever  has  left  me  ;  but  nothing  remains  of  me  but  skin 
and  bone.  .  .  .  The  camp  and  followers,  helpless  and  fright- 
ened, are,  like  myself,  full  of  alarms,  restless  as  quicksilver. 
Separated  from  their  lord,  they  know  not  if  they  have  a  master 
or  not. 

I  brought  nothing  into  this  world,  and,  except  the  infirmities 
of  man,  carry  nothing  out.  I  have  a  dread  for  my  salvation, 
and  with  what  torments  I  may  be  punished.  Though  I  have 
strong  reliance  on  the  mercies  and  bounties  of  God,  yet,  regard- 
ing my  actions,  fear  will  not  quit  me ;  but  when  I  am  gone 
reflection  will  not  remain.  Come  then  what  may,  I  have 
launched  my  vessel  in  the  waves.  Though  Providence  will 
protect  the  camp,  yet,  regarding  appearances,  the  endeavors 
of  my  sons  are  indispensable.  Give  my  last  prayers  to  my 
grandson,  whom  I  cannot  see,  but  the  desire  affects  me.  The 
Began  [his  daughter]  appears  afflicted ;  but  God  is  the  only 
judge  of  hearts.  The  foolish  thoughts  of  women  produce 
nothing  but  disappointment.     Farewell,  farewell,  farewell. 


As  Aurangzeb  had  foreseen,  the  Indian  empire  began 
to  go  to  pieces  shortly  after  his  death,  and  accordingly 
the  nawabs,  or  governors,  in  the  various  provinces  as- 
serted practical  independence  of  his  successors.  In 
1742  the  governorship  of  Bengal  passed  into  the  hands 
of  a  very  capable  ruler,  Aliverdi  Khan,  who  kept  the 
natives  and  foreigners  in  order,  but  on  his  death,  four- 
teen years  later,  the  authority  fell  to  a  headstrong  young 
man,  Surajah  Dowlah,  whose  conduct  precipitated  a 
serious  conflict  in  his  provinces.    A  report  of  the  Dutch 


Struggle  betiveen  Frajice  and  England  for  India       105 

in  Bengal  to  the  home  government  narrates  how  the 
trouble  began  that  ended  in  the  establishment  of  Eng- 
lish rule  in  northeastern  India. 

The  Nawab  Aliverdi  Khan  having  died  in  April  of  this  year,  53.  a  Dutch 
and  his  adopted  son,  Surajah  Dowlah,  having  been  called  to  report  of  the 
the  helm  of  affairs,  the  English  at  Calcutta  caused  ramparts  of  sura^ah^ 
a  certain  kind  of  stone  to  be  erected.    With  the  knowledge  of  Dowlah  (1756) 
the  under-nawab  of  Dacca,  and  without  paying  any  attention 
to  the  prohibitions  and  notices  issued  by  the  young  prince 
concerning  these  matters,  they  gave  protection  to  one  Kissen- 
das,  who  thought  he  could  escape  from  the  nawab. 

His  Excellency,  being  thus  defied,  occupied  the  English  fort 
of  Cossimbazar  [Kasimbazar]  not  before  the  beginning  of  June. 
This  being  surrendered  by  the  chief  and  his  council  without  any 
fighting  or  resistance,  his  Excellency,  taking  our  English  friends 
of  Cossimbazar  as  prisoners  with  him,  marched  by  forced 
marches  straight  on  Calcutta,  at  the  head  of  an  army  of  sixty 
or  seventy  thousand  men. 

The  whole  world  thought  and  expected  that  he  would  have  Surajah  Dow 
knocked  his  head  against  such  a  strong  place,  but,  as  it  turned  '^^  ^^}'^^^  *^^ 
out,  the  English  defended  themselves  for  three  days  only.    A  in"cakuttr*^ 
part  of  them  fled  in  their  ships  down  the  river,  and  the  rest, 
who  did  not  perish  by  the  sword,  have  fallen  into  the  nawab's 
hands,  and  are  bound  in  irons.    Such  now  is  the  condition  of 
that   beautiful   place,   whose   blooming  and    flourishing  state 
caused  every  one  to  admire  it,  and  from  which  the  English 
company  drew  a  great  and   princely  income.    The  fort  and 
all  the  other  costly  buildings  have  been  pulled  down,  the  shops 
erected  before  this  disaster  have  been  plundered,  and  the  tim- 
ber wharfs  destroyed,  the  place  renamed  Alinagar,  and  put 
under  the  government  of  a  Faiijdar.    The  officers  of  the  up- 
country  factories  are  also  prisoners  in  consequence  of  the  self- 
willed  behavior  which  is  peculiar  to  this  [English]  nation. 

Had  it  even  remained  at  this,  which  was  bad  enough  God  The  Dutch 
knows,  we  should  have  had  to  share  in  the  trouble  which  the  ^">'  °^  ^"''' 
above-mentioned  nation  had  drawn  upon  its  own  head,  since, 
having  been    repeatedly   written   to  by    Surajah    Dowlah   for 


io6  Readings  in  Modern  European  Histo7y 

assistance  in  soldiers,  ammunition,  and  boats,  he,  on  our  abso- 
lute refusal,  immediately  after  the  taking  of  Calcutta,  surrounded 
us  with  an  immensely  superior  force,  and  demanded  a  contri- 
bution of  ^20  laks  or  2,000,000  rupees,  a  claim  which  we  could 
not  satisfy,  and  would  sooner  have  trusted  ourselves  to  die 
fighting.  In  the  meantime  Heaven  showed  us  a  way  out  of 
the  difficulty,  so  that  we,  by  the  expenditure  of  certain  money, 
brought  influence  to  bear  upon  that  mad  prince,  so  as  to  incline 
him  in  our  favor.  By  this  means  we  obtained  a  reduction  to 
one  fifth  of  the  whole,  or  four  laks  of  rupees. 

Having  gained  ground  thus  far,  we  imagined  that  some  more 
might  be  abated,  or  that  in  the  matter  of  the  gratuity,  which 
one  is  ordinarily  obliged  to  pay  to  all  new  viceroys,  we  might 
get  off  with  about  half  a  lak  instead  of  one  or  two  laks ;  but 
the  prince,  seeing  our  secret  joy  and  flattering  himself  that  he 
had  a  right  to  chastise  us,  commanded  the  people  with  him  to 
forcibly  take  away  our  artillery  and  trample  our  flag  under  foot. 

Now  there  was  no  further  time  for  delay  ;  we  had  either  to 
pay  or  take  the  consequences.  On  the  one  hand  it  was  hard 
that  the  Company  should  have  to  pay  such  an  immense  sum 
of  money,  which,  including  that  spent  upon  the  cost  of  inter- 
cession and  some  bribes  spent  upon  persuading  the  nawab  and 
his  army  to  retire  from  Calcutta,  was  to  be  estimated  at  400,000 
rupees,  and  on  the  other  hand  there  was  no  chance  in  the  world 
to  hold  out  against  the  immense  force  of  the  nawab,  who  was 
provided  with  a  considerable  force  of  artillery  and  a  good  Euro- 
pean constabulary,  nor  was  it  possible  in  the  present  difficulty 
to  flee  on  our  ships.  .  .  .  Although,  by  God's  blessing,  our  un- 
pardonable stupidity  might  possibly  have  been  made  good,  still 
it  appeared  an  inconsiderate  bravery  to  risk  our  lives,  our  lib- 
erty, the  reputation  of  our  nationality  and  our  colony,  by  hold- 
ing out  for  a  day  or  two,  or  possibly  less,  considering  the 
weakness  of  our  fort  and  the  bad  condition  of  our  artillery  as 
compared  with  that  of  the  English.  Consequently,  fiolens  volens 
we  decided  to  concede  the  demands  of  the  nawab.  .  .  . 

The  French  have  had  to  pay  a  contribution  proportionate 
to  ours,  to  the  amount  of  3  laks  of  rupees  besides  another  half 
lak  for  mediation  money.    One  does  not  yet  know  whether  the 


Struggle  betzveen  France  ajid  England  for  India       10/ 

other  nations  will  get  out  of  this  difficulty  now  without  tearing  The  French 
their  clothes,  but  it  is  known  that  the  Empdeners  had  about  '^^'^^^  ^^  ^^'^' 
two  and  a  half  laks  of  rupees  outstanding  amongst  the  English,  surajah  Dow- 
and  that  to  all  appearances  they  will  never  see    a  doit  of  this  lah 
money  again,  so  that  this  Company  may  very  possibly  be  ruined, 
especially  if  any  disasters  take  place,  such  as,  alas  !  are  hitting 
our  Company  more   than  too  frequently,  seeing  that  in  the 
beginning  of  this  month  the  ship  Voorbiirg,  whilst  sailing  up 
the  Ganges,  got  aground  on  the  shallow  of  the  so-called  Janne- 
gat  (John's  or  Jack's  Hole)  and  was  lost  with  all  its  cargo  except 
the  silver,  which  according  to  custom  had  been  carried  in  the 
sloop.    Possibly  we  might  have  been  able  to  save  a  considerable 
quantity  of  the  cargo  if  we  had  been  able  to  get  there  in  time, 
but  we  could  do  nothing  towards  this,  owing  to  the  passage 
being  closed  by  the  departure  of  the  nawab  three  days  ago. 

The  English  as  well  as  the  nawab  have  sought  our  alliance, 
and  on  our  persevering  in  an  absolute  neutrality,  the  English 
Council  has  protested  against  us  in  the  name  of  his  Britannic 
Majesty,  as  your  Excellencies  will  come  to  see  by  the  letters 
to  be  dispatched  by  the  first  ship  next  September.  ... 

The  hasty  actions  of  Surajah  Dov^lah,  described  in 
the  above  report,  culminated  in  the  imprisonment  of  a 
large  number  of  English  residents  in  a  room  so  small 
that  many  of  them  perished  during  the  night.  An 
account  of  this  episode  of  the  "Black  Hole"  of  Cal- 
cutta is  given  by  an  officer  who  was  at  the  time  in  the 
service  of  the  East  India  Service. 

The  principal  officer  [of  the  nawab]  commanded  the  pris-  54.  The 

oners  to  go  into  one  of  the  rooms  which  stood  behind  them  !1^^^,*:^^  ^  , 
11  1         rr.,  .  Hole"  of  Cal- 

along   the  veranda.    1  his  was   the  common   dungeon  of   the  cutta  (June 

garrison,  who  used  to  call  it  the   "  Black   Hole."     Many  of  20, 1756) 
the  prisoners,  knowing  the  place,  began  to  expostulate  ;  upon 
which  the  officer  ordered  his  men  to  cut  down  those  who  hes- 
itated, on  which  the  prisoners  obeyed.    But  before  all  were 
within,  the  room  was  so  thronged  that  the  last  entered  with 


io8  Readiiigs  in  Modern  European  History 

difficulty.  The  guard  immediately  closed  and  locked  the  door, 
confining  one  hundred  and  forty-six  persons  in  a  room  not 
twenty  feet  square,  with  only  two  small  windows,  and  these 
obstructed  by  the  veranda. 

It  was  the  hottest  season  of  the  year,  and  the  night  uncom- 
monly sultry  even  at  this  season.  The  excessive  pressure  of 
their  bodies  against  one  another  and  the  intolerable  heat  which 
prevailed  as  soon  as  the  door  was  shut,  convinced  the  prisoners 
that  it  was  impossible  to  live  through  the  night  in  this  horrible 
confinement ;  and  violent  attempts  were  immediately  made  to 
force  the  door,  but  without  effect,  for  it  opened  inward ;  on 
which  many  began  to  give  a  loose  to  rage.  .  .   . 

The  first  effect  of  their  confinement  was  a  profuse  and  con- 
tinued sweat,  which  soon  produced  intolerable  thirst,  succeeded 
by  excruciating  pains  in  the  breast,  with  difficulty  of  breathing 
little  short  of  suffocation.  Various  means  were  tried  to  obtain 
more  room  and  more  air.  Every  one  stripped  off  his  clothes ; 
every  hat  was  put  in  motion  ;  and  these  methods  affording  no 
relief,  it  was  proposed  that  they  should  all  sit  down  on  their 
hams  at  the  same  time,  and  after  remaining  a  little  while  in 
this  posture  rise  all  together.  This  fatal  expedient  was  thrice 
repeated  before  they  had  been  confined  an  hour ;  and  every 
time  several,  unable  to  rear  themselves  up  again,  fell  and  were 
trampled  to  death  by  their  companions. 

Attempts  were  again  made  to  force  the  door,  which,  failing 
as  before,  redoubled  their  rage ;  but  the  thirst  increasing,  noth- 
ing but  "Water  !  water  !  "  became  soon  after  the  general  cry. 
The  goodi  Jenianf da r  immediately  ordered  some  skins  of  water 
to  be  brought  to  the  windows ;  but  instead  of  relief,  his  benevo- 
lence became  a  more  dreadful  cause  of  destruction  ;  for  the 
sight  of  the  water  threw  every  one  into  such  excessive  agitations 
and  ravings  that,  unable  to  resist  this  violent  impulse  of  nature, 
none  could  wait  to  be  regularly  served,  but  each  with  the  utmost 
ferocity  battled  against  those  who  were  likely  to  get  it  before 
him  ;  and  in  these  conflicts  many  were  either  pressed  to  death 
by  the  efforts  of  others  or  suffocated  by  their  own.  .  .  . 

Before  midnight  all  who  were  alive  and  had  not  partaken  of 
the  air  at  the  windows  were  either  in  a  lethargic  stupefaction 


Struggle  betiveen  Fy-ance  and  England  f 07'  hidia       1 09 

or  "aving  with  delirium.  Every  kind  of  invective  and  abuse 
was  uttered  in  hopes  of  provoking  the  guard  to  put  an  end  to 
their  miseries  by  firing  into  the  dungeon  ;  and  whilst  some  were 
blaspheming  the  Creator  with  the  frantic  execrations  of  torment 
and  despair,  Heaven  was  implored  by  others  with  wikl  and  in- 
coherent prayers  ;  until  the  weaker,  exhausted  by  these  agita- 
tions, at  length  laid  down  quietly  and  expired  on  the  bodies 
of  their  dead  or  agonizing  friends.  ...  At  two  o'clock  not 
more  than  fifty  remained  alive.  But  even  this  number  were 
too  many  to  partake  of  the  saving  air,  the  contest  for  which 
and  for  life  continued  until  the  morn,  long  implored,  began 
to  break.  .  .  . 

An  officer,  sent  by  the  nawab,  came  and  inquired  if  the  Eng- 
lish chief  still  survived  ;  and  soon  after  the  same  man  returnee^ 
with  an  order  to  open  the  prison.  The  dead  were  so  thronged, 
and  the  survivors  had  so  little  strength  remaining,  that  they 
were  employed  near  half  an  hour  in  removing  the  bodies  which 
lay  against  the  door  before  they  could  clear  a  passage  to  go 
out  one  at  a  time  ;  when  of  one  hundred  and  forty-six  who  went 
in  no  more  than  twenty-three  came  out  alive,  —  the  ghastliest 
forms  that  were  ever  seen  alive. 

On  the  overthrow  of  Surajah  Dowlah  in  the  famous  bat- 
tle of  Plassey,  the  English  set  up  an  adventurer  by  the 
name  of  Meer  Jafir  as  nawab  of  Bengal,  and  a  short  time 
afterward  extracted  from  him  the  following  treaty,  prac- 
tically recognizing  English  dominion  in  that  province. 

First,  Whatever  articles  were  agreed  upon  in  the  time  of  55.  Treaty 
peace  with  the  Nawab  Surajah  Dowlah,  I  agree  to  comply  with,  fj^^i"*^^,^  ?^ 

Second,  The  enemies  of  the  English  are  my  enemies,  whether  with  Surajah 
they  be  Indians  or  Europeans.  Dowlah's 

Third,  All  the  effects  and  factories  belonging  to  the  French  ^"^^^^^0^ 
in  the  provinces  of  Bengal,  Bahar,  and  Orissa,  shall  remain  in  Exclusion  of 
possession  of  the  English,  nor  will  I  ever  allow  them  any  more  the  French 

.  ,,1      •      iU      ^u  •  in  favor  of  the 

to  settle  m  the  three  provmces.  English 

Fourth,  In  consideration  of  the  losses  which  the  English  Com- 
pany have  sustained  by  the  plunder  and  capture  of  Calcutta  by 


1 10  Readings  in  Modern  European  History 

the  Nawab,  and  the  charges  occasioned  by  the  maintenance  of 
their  officers,  I  will  give  them  a  crore  of  rupees. 

Fifth,  For  the  effects  plundered  from  the  English  inhabitants 
of  Calcutta,  I  agree  to  give  fifty  laks  of  rupees. 

[In  articles  6-9,  here  omitted,  Meer  Jafir  promised 
further  indemnities  and  recognized  an  extension  of  Brit- 
ish control  in  and  around  Calcutta.] 

Tenth,  Whenever  I  demand  the  English  assistance,  I  will  be 
at  the  charge  of  the  maintenance  of  their  troops. 

Eleventh,  I  will  not  erect  any  new  fortifications  below 
Hoogly  near  the  river  Ganges. 

Twelfth,  As  soon  as  I  am  established  in  the  government  of 
the  three  provinces,  the  aforesaid  sums  shall  be  faithfully  paid. 

Dated  15th  Ramezan,  in  the  fourth  year  of  the  king's  reign. 

Some  time  after  their  success  in  Bengal,  the  English 
instituted  the  new  ofifice  of  governor  general,  which  was 
held  by  Warren  Hastings  from  1774  to  1785.  During 
his  administration  Hastings  was  continually  involved  in 
conflicts  with  the  natives  and  did  many  things  which 
seemed  reprehensible  to  Englishmen  at  home.  Accord- 
ingly he  was  tried  by  Parliament  and  the  charges  against 
him  were  presented  by  Edmund  Burke  in  a  long  and 
overwrought  speech  from  which  the  following  extract 
is  taken. ^ 

56.  Edmund         With  very  few  intermissions,  the  affairs  of  India  have  con- 

Burke's  sum-  gtantly  engaged  the  attention  of  the  Commons  for  more  than 

case  against    fourteen  years.   We  may  safely  affirm,  we  have  tried  every  mode 

Warren  of  legislative  provision,  before  we  had  recourse  to  anything  of 

astings         penal  process.    It  was  in  the  year  1774  we  framed  an  act  of 

Parliament  for  remedy  to  the  then  existing  disorders  in  India, 

such  as  the  then  information  before  us  enabled  us  to  enact. 

Finding  that  the  act  of  Parliament  did  not  answer  all  the  ends 

1  See  Development  cf  Modern  Ein-ope.,  Vol.  I,  p.  99  and  note  i. 


Struggle  between  France  ajid  England  for  India       1 1 1 

that  were  expected  from  it,  we  had,  in  the  year  1782,  recourse 
to  a  body  of  monitory  resolutions.  Neither  had  we  the  expected 
fruit  from  them. 

When,  therefore,  we  found  that  our  inquiries  and  our  reports,  English 
our  laws  and  our  admonitions,  were  alike  despised  ;  that  enor-  ^8^"*^  i" 
mities  increased  in  proportion  as  they  were  forbidden,  detected,  parliament 
and  exposed ;  when  we  found  that  guilt  stalked  with  an  erect 
and  upright  front,  and  that  legal  authority  seemed  to  skulk  and 
hide  its  head  like  outlawed  guilt;  when  we  found  that  some 
of  those  very  persons,  who  were  appointed  by  Parliament  to 
assert  the  authority  of  the  laws  of  this  kingdom,  were  the  most 
forward,  the  most  bold,  and  the  most  active  in  the  conspiracy 
for  their  destruction ;   then  it  was  time  for  the  justice  of  the 
nation  to  recollect  itself.   .  .  . 

We  found  it  was  impossible  to  evade  painful  duty  without 
betraying  a  sacred  trust.  Having,  therefore,  resolved  upon  the 
last  and  only  resource,  a  penal  prosecution,  it  was  our  next 
business  to  act  in  a  manner  worthy  of  our  long  deliberation.  .  .  . 

First,  to  speak  of  the  process  :  we  are  to  inform  your  lord- 
ships, that,  besides  that  long  previous  deliberation  of  fourteen 
years,  we  examined,  as  a  preliminary  to  this  proceeding,  every 
circumstance  which  could  prove  favorable  to  parties  apparently 
delinquent,  before  we  finally  resolved  to  prosecute.  There  was 
no  precedent  to  be  found,  in  the  journals,  favorable  to  persons 
in  Mr.  Hastings's  circumstances,  that  was  not  applied  to.  .  .  . 

As  to  the  crime,  which  we  chose,  we  first  considered  well  Burke  charges 
what  it  was  in  its  nature,  under  all  the  circumstances  which  Hastings  with 

1     1    •        tTT  •    1       1    •         •  1       11    •  •  1-1     avarice, 

attended  it.    We  weighed  it  with  all  its  extenuations,  and  with  treachery, 

all  its  aggravations.    On  that  review  we  are  warranted  to  assert  blackness  of 

that  the  crimes,  with  which  we  charge  the  prisoner  at  the  bar,  xT^^jf"    > 

are  substantial  crimes ;    that  they  are  no  errors  or  mistakes, 

such  as  wise  and  good  men  might  possibly  fall  into  ;  which  may 

even  produce  very  pernicious   effects,  without  being  in  fact 

great  offenses.  .  .  .   We  know,  as  we  are  to  be  served  by  men, 

that  the  persons,  who  serve  us,  must  be  tried  as  men,  and  with 

a  very  large  allowance  indeed  to  human  infirmity  and  human 

error.    This  my  lords,  we  knew,  and  we   weighed  before  we 

came  before  you.    But  the  crimes,  which  we  charge  in  these 


willful 
criminal 


112  Readings  in  Modem  European  History 

articles,  are  not  lapses,  defects,  errors,  of  common  human 
frailty,  which,  as  we  know  and  feel,  we  can  allow  for.  We 
charge  this  offender  with  no  crimes  that  have  not  arisen  from 
passions  which  it  is  criminal  to  harbor ;  with  no  offenses  that 
have  not  their  root  in  avarice,  rapacity,  pride,  insolence,  feroc- 
ity, treachery,  cruelty,  malignity  of  temper ;  in  short,  in  nothing, 
that  does  not  argue  a  total  extinction  of  all  moral  principle ; 
that  does  not  manifest  an  inveterate  blackness  of  heart,  dyed 
in  grain  with  malice,  vitiated,  corrupted,  gangrened  to  the 
very  core. 

Hastings  a  If  we  do  not  plant  his  crimes   in  those  vices  which  the 

breast  of  man  is  made  to  abhor,  and  the  spirit  of  all  laws, 
human  and  divine,  to  interdict,  we  desire  no  longer  to  be 
heard  upon  this  occasion.  Let  everything  that  can  be  pleaded 
on  the  ground  of  surprise  or  error,  upon  those  grounds  be 
pleaded  with  success  :  we  give  up  the  whole  of  those  predica- 
ments. We  urge  no  crimes  that  were  not  crimes  of  forethought. 
We  charge  him  with  nothing  that  he  did  not  commit  upon 
deliberation  ;  that  he  did  not  commit  against  advice,  supplica- 
tion, and  remonstrance ;  that  he  did  not  commit  against  the 
direct  command  of  lawful  authority ;  that  he  did  not  commit 
after  reproof  and  reprimand,  the  reproof  and  reprimand  of 
those  who  are  authorized  by  the  laws  to  reprove  and  reprimand 
him.  The  crimes  of  Mr.  Hastings  are  crimes,  not  only  in  them- 
selves, but  aggravated  by  being  crimes  of  contumacy.  They 
were  crimes,  not  against  forms,  but  against  those  eternal  laws 
of  justice,  which  are  our  rule  and  our  birthright.  His  offenses 
are  not,  in  formal,  technical  language,  but  in  reality,  in  sub- 
stance and  effect,  high  crimes  and  high  misdemeanors. 

Hastings  the        So  far  as  to  the  crimes.    As  to  the  criminal,  we  have  chosen 

captain  j^j^-^-^  qj^  ^^  Same  principle,  on  which  we  selected  the  crimes. 

fniq^ui^ty  ^^  ^ave  uot  chosen  to  bring  before  you  a  poor,  puny,  trem- 

bling delinquent,  misled,  perhaps,  by  those  who  ought  to  have 
taught  him  better,  but  who  have  afterwards  oppressed  him  by 
their  power,  as  they  had  first  corrupted  him  by  their  example. 
.  .  .  We  have  brought  before  you  the  first  man  of  India  in  rank, 
authority,  and  station.  We  have  brought  before  you  the  chief 
of  the  tribe,  the  head  of  the  whole  body  of  Eastern  offenders ; 


Struggle  bctiveen  France  and  England  for  India       1 1 3 

a  captain  general  of  iniquity,  under  whom  all  the  fraud,  all  the 
peculation,  all  the  tyranny,  in  India,  are  embodied,  disciplined, 
arrayed,  and  paid.  This  is  the  person,  my  lords,  that  we  bring 
before  you.  We  have  brought  before  you  such  a  person,  that, 
if  you  strike  at  him  with  the  firm  and  decided  arm  of  justice, 
you  will  not  have  need  of  a  great  many  more  examples.  You 
strike  at  the  whole  corps,  if  you  strike  at  the  head.  .  .  » 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE  RIVALRY  OF  FRANCE  AND  ENGLAND 
IN  NORTH  AMERICA 

Section  /p.    Hozv  the  European  Nations  established 
tJiemselves  in  the  New  World 

A  Jesuit  missionary,  Father  Christian  Le  Clercq,  gives 
a  sad  picture  of  the  condition  to  which  New  France  was 
reduced  in  1663  on  account  of  the  indifference  of  the 
Company  to  which  the  French  king  had  granted  the 
region.  At  that  date,  under  the  influence  of  Colbert, 
the  French  government  began  to  take  active  measures 
to  protect  the  colonists  and  restore  prosperity. 

57.  How  Col-        The  Church  of  New  France,  far  from  making  any  progress, 

bert  came  to   could  not  have  subsisted  long  unless  a  more  powerful  arm  than 

the  aid  of  the     ,  ^    ,  ,  r    1       ^  ,1 

French  set-     that  of  the  gentlemen  of  the  Company  had  come  to  her  assist- 

tlers  in  ance  in  the  extremity  to  which  Canada  was  reduced  in  1663. 

The  Iroquois,  after  having  defeated  and  almost  entirely 
destroyed  our  allies,  desolated  our  habitations.  The  people 
were  not  in  security  even  at  Quebec,  being  unable  to  resist  the 
enemy,  who  threatened  us  with  total  destruction.  .  .  .  The  col- 
ony, far  from  increasing,  began  to  diminish.  Some  returned  to 
France,  others  were  taken  and  killed  by  the  Indians.  Many  died 
of  misery ;  the  clearing  and  cultivation  of  lands  advanced  but  lit- 
tle, as  the  colonists  were  obliged  to  await  all  from  France.  .  .  . 

Hitherto  the  king  reserved  only  the  sovereign  authority, 
having  yielded  the  domain,  ownership,  and  commerce  of  New 
France  to  the  gentlemen  of  the  Company,  on  condition  that 
they  should  pay  all  charges.  These  gentlemen  had  doubtless 
good  intentions,  and  we  knew  that  most  had  joined  only  from 

114 


Canada 


Rivalry  of  France  and  England  in  North  America     1 1 5 

a  zeal  for  religion.  They  had  made  great  efforts  in  the  first 
years,  but,  being  finally  weary  of  so  many  useless  outlays,  which 
produced  no  return,  they  had  for  the  last  years  abandoned  the 
commerce  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  country  under  certain 
conditions.  .  .  . 

Worthy  object  of  the  piety  of  the  king  (Louis  XIV) !  —  who,  Louis  xiv 
after  having  given  peace  to  Europe  by  the  Treaty  of  the  Pyre-  ^^'f^'^^j^j'J* 
nees,  reestablished  order  and  felicity  in  the  kingdom,  begun  to  f^^  the  admin- 
destroy  heresy,  which  is  now  entirely  annihilated,  obtained  from  istration  of 
God  a  successor  to  the  crown  in  the  person  of  the  Dauphin,  ^^"^  ^ 
wished  to  turn  his  zeal  towards  New  France,  which  accordingly 
his  Majesty  (a  true  father  and  savior  of  Canada)  united  to 
his  domain,  assuming  the  debts  of  the  country,  undertaking  to 
provide  all  the  expenses  of  the  Church,  justice,  and  war,  and 
establishing  a  company  for  the  sole  direction  of  commerce  in 
a  single  hand,  which  has  since  been  so  advantageous  to  the 
inhabitants.    This  great  prince,  as  a  principle  of  religion,  re- 
served to   himself  and  his  council  every  care,   more  with  a 
view  of  forming  a  Christian   empire   than  of   extending   the 
limits  of  a  temporal  kingdom.    Of  all  the  effects  of  protection 
which  his  bounty  occasioned  during  the  present  epoch,  the  most 
advantageous  was  the  powerful  assistance  he  sent,  namely,  intel- 
ligent and  enlightened  ministers  and  officers  capable  of  giving  a 
form  to  this  rising  country,  with  considerable  sums  drawn  from 
his  treasury,  and  sparing  nothing  to  establish  this  colony.     He 
sent  also  experienced  troops  to  repel  "the  enemy  and  sustain 
the  inhabitants.  .  .  . 

Whilst  God  gave  these  blessings  to  the  arms  of  the  king,  the 
intendant  gave  his  attention  to  the  establishment  and  general 
good  of  the  country,  which  soon  changed  its  appearance  by 
the  wisdom  of  so  penetrating,  so  experienced  a  minister,  so 
zealous  for  the  service  of  God  and  the  king,  as  Monsieur  Talon 
has  always  been,  as  were,  too,  his  brothers  in  the  intendancies 
and  other  employments  of  distinction. 

The  colony,  which  was  as  yet  only  a  handful  of  settlers  scat- 
tered here  and  there  in  different  cantons,  was  notably  increased 
by  the  number  of  officers  and  soldiers  who  chose  to  settle  when 
the  troops  were  disbanded,  and  who  formed  more  than  three 


1 1 6  Ri'ddings  in  Modem  European  History 

hundred  new  families.  .  .  .  The  young  women  sent  over  in 
great  numbers  by  the  king  in  the  following  years  found  regular 
settlements,  and  were  advantageously  married  according  to 
their  rank.  .   .  . 

The  intendant  endeavored  to  give  a  form  of  administration 
everywhere  similar  to  that  in  France,  establishing  the  manu- 
facture of  linen,  leather,  shoes,  hats,  lace,  etc.  Potash  works 
and  breweries,  public  edifices  in  many  parts  of  the  country 
were  the  result  of  his  attention,  as  well  as  the  construction  of 
ships  and  barks;  the  reestablishment  of  treaties  with  Indian 
tribes,  free  trade  for  the  colonists,  the  regulation  and  perfect 
order  of  the  royal  income   attracted  merchants  from  France. 

With  Canada  as  a  basis,  the  French  explorers  pene- 
trated the  interior  in  every  direction,  and  in  1673  Father 
Marquette  pressed  on  to  the  Mississippi,  down  which  he 
made  a  long  journey.  Fortunately  he  has  left  an  account 
of  this  famous  expedition. 

58.  How  The  feast  of  the   Immaculate  Conception  of  the  Blessed 

Marquette      Virgin  —  whom  I  have  always  invoked  since  I  have  been  in 
descended  the     ,.  r    •,      ^  i-r  /-.i,i  r 

Mississippi     this  country  of  the  Outaouacs  to  obtam  from  God  the  grace  of 

River  in  1673  being  able  to  visit  the  nations  who  dwell  along  the  Mississippi 

River  —  was  precisely  the  day  on  which  Monsieur  Joliet  arrived 

with  orders  to  accomplish  this  discovery  wdth  me.   .  .  .    We 

were  not  long  in  preparing  all  our  equipment,  although  we  were 

about  to  begin  a  voyage  the  duration  of  which  we  could  not 

foresee.    Indian  corn,  with  some  smoked  meat,  constituted  all 

our  provisions.    With  these  we  embarked  —  Monsieur  Joliet 

and  myself  with  five  men  —  in  two  bark  canoes,  fully  resolved 

to  do  and  suffer  everything  for  so  glorious  an  undertaking. 

Accordingly,  on  the  seventeenth  day  of  May,  1673,  we 
started  from  the  mission  of  St.  Ignace  at  Michilimakinac,  where 
I  then  was.  The  joy  that  we  felt  at  being  selected  for  this 
expedition  animated  our  courage  and  rendered  the  labor  of 
paddling  from  morning  to  night  agreeable  to  us.   .  .  . 

W^ith  all  these  precautions,  we  joyfully  plied  our  paddles  on 
a  portion  of  Lake  Huron  and  on  that  of  the  Illinois  [i.e.  Lake 


Rivalry  of  France  and  England  in  North  America     117 

Michigan]  and  on  the  Bay  des  Puants  [i.e.  Green  Bay].  The 
first  nation  that  we  came  to  was  that  of  the  "  Wild  Oats."  I 
entered  their  river  to  go  and  visit  these  peoples,  to  whom  we 
have  preached  the  gospel  for  several  years,  —  in  consequence 
of  which  there  are  several  good  Christians  among  them.  .  .  . 
We  left  this  bay  to  enter  the  river  that  discharges  into  it  and 
continued  to  advance  toward  the  Maskoutens,  where  we  arrived 
on  the  7th  of  June. 

This  word  may,  in  Algonquin,  mean  the  ''  Fire  Nation,"  — 
which,  indeed,  is  the  name  given  to  this  tribe.  Here  is  the 
limit  of  the  discoveries  which  the  French  have  made,  for  they 
have  not  yet  gone  any  farther.  ...  I  was  greatly  consoled  at 
seeing  a  handsome  cross  erected  in  the  middle  of  the  village 
and  adorned  with  many  white  skins,  red  belts,  bows  and  arrows, 
which  these  good  people  had  offered  to  the  great  Manitou 
(this  is  the  name  which  they  give  to  God).  They  did  this  to 
thank  him  for  having  pity  on  them  during  the  winter  by  giv- 
ing them  an  abundance  of  game  when  they  most  dreaded 
famine.  ...  On  the  following  day,  the  loth  of  June,  two 
Miamis,  who  were  given  us  as  guides,  embarked  with  us  in 
the  sight  of  a  great  crowd,  who  could  not  sufficiently  express 
their  astonishment  at  the  sight  of  seven  Frenchmen  alone  in 
two  canoes  daring  to  undertake  so  extraordinary  and  so  haz- 
ardous an  expedition. 

We  knew  that  at  three  leagues  from  Maskoutens  was  a  river  They  leave 
which  discharged  into  the  Mississippi.    We  knew  also  that  the  ^^^^"  ^^^ 

J-        .•  r   11         .  1  ,     •  ,       for  the  Wis- 

direction  we  were  to  follow  m  order  to  reach  it  was  west-south-  consin  River 
westerly.  But  the  road  is  broken  by  so  many  swamps  and  small 
lakes  that  it  is  easy  to  lose  one's  way,  especially  as  the  river 
leading  thither  is  so  full  of  wild  oats  that  it  is  difficult  to  find 
the  channel.  For  this  reason  we  greatly  needed  our  two  guides, 
who  safely  conducted  us  to  a  portage  of  twenty-seven  hundred 
paces  and  helped  us  to  transport  our  canoes  to  enter  that  river. 
After  which  they  returned  home,  leaving  us  alone  in  this  un- 
known country  in  the  hands  of  Providence.  Thus  we  left  the 
waters  flowing  to  Quebec,  four  hundred  or  five  hundred  leagues 
from  here,  to  float  on  those  that  would  henceforth  take  us 
through  strange  lands.   .  .  . 


1 1 8  Readings  in  Modern  European  History 

They  reach       The  rivcr  on  which  we  embarked  is  called  the  Meskousing 

the  Missis-   ^  ^^  Wisconsiii].  .  .  .    After  proceeding  forty  leagues  on  this 

same  route  we  arrived  at  the  mouth  of  our  river,  and  at  42^^ 

degrees  of  latitude  we  safely  entered  the  Mississippi  on  the 

17th  of  June  with  a  joy  that  I  cannot  express. 

Here  we  are,  then,  on  this  renowned  river,  all  of  whose 
peculiar  features  I  have  endeavored  to  note  carefully.  The 
Mississippi  River  takes  its  rise  in  various  lakes  in  the  country 
of  the  northern  nations.  .  .  .  We  gently  followed  its  course, 
which  runs  toward  the  south  and  southeast,  as  far  as  the  4 2d 
degree  of  latitude.  .  .  .  From  time  to  time  we  came  upon 
monstrous  fish,  one  of  which  struck  our  canoe  with  such 
violence  that  I  thought  that  it  was  a  great  tree  about  to  break 
the  canoe  in  pieces.  On  another  occasion  we  saw  on  the  water 
a  monster  with  the  head  of  a  tiger,  a  sharp  nose  like  that  of  a 
wildcat,  with  whiskers  and  straight,  erect  ears.  The  head  was 
gray  and  the  neck  quite  black.  But  we  saw  no  more  creatures 
of  this  sort.  .  .  .  When  we  reached  the  parallel  of  41  degrees 
28  minutes,  following  the  same  direction,  w^e  found  that  turkeys 
had  taken  the  place  of  game  and  the  pisikious  or  wild  cattle 
[i.e.  buffaloes]  that  of  the  other  animals. 

We  call  them  "  wild  cattle  "  because  they  are  very  similar  to 
our  domestic  cattle.  They  are  not  longer,  but  are  nearly  as 
large  again  and  more  corpulent.  When  our  people  killed  one, 
three  persons  had  much  difficulty  in  moving  it.  .  .  .  Their 
heavy  coat  falls  off  in  summer  and  the  skin  becomes  as  soft  as 
velvet.  At  that  season  the  savages  use  the  hides  for  making 
fine  robes,  which  they  paint  in  various  colors.  .  .  . 
Marquette  Finally,  on  the  25th  of  June,  we  perceived  on  the  water's 
edge  soft  tracks  of  men  and  a  narrow  and  somewhat  beaten 
path  leading  to  a  fine  prairie.  We  stopped  to  examine  it,  and 
thinking  that  it  was  a  road  which  led  to  some  village  of  savages, 
we  resolved  to  go  and  reconnoiter  it.  We  therefore  left  our 
two  canoes  under  the  guard  of  our  people,  strictly  charging 
them  not  to  allow  themselves  to  be  surprised,  after  which 
Monsieur  Joliet  and  I  undertook  this  investigation,  —  a  rather 
hazardous  one  for  two  men  who  exposed  themselves  alone  to 
the  mercy  of  a  barbarous  and  unknown  people.    [The  savages 


visits  the 
Illinois 


Rivalry  of  France  and  Engla7id  in  North  America     1 1 9 

received  us  kindly,  having  probably  recognized  us  as  Frenchmen, 
especially  when  they  saw  our  black  gowns.]  I  spoke  to  them  and 
asked  them  who  they  were.  They  replied  that  they  were  Illinois, 
and  as  a  token  of  peace  they  offered  us  their  pipes  to  smoke. 
They  afterward  invited  us  to  enter  their  village,  where  all  the 
people  impatiently  awaited  us.  These  pipes  for  smoking  are 
called  in  this  country  ''  calumets."  This  word  has  come  so  much 
into  use  that  in  order  to  be  understood  I  shall  be  obliged  to  use 
it,  as  I  shall  often  have  to  mention  these  pipes.  .  .  . 

When  one  speaks  the  w^ord  "Illinois,"  it  is  as  if  one  said 
in  their  language  "the  men,"  —  as  if  the  other  savages  were 
looked  upon  by  them  merely  as  animals.  It  must  also  be 
admitted  that  they  have  an  air  of  humanity  which  we  have 
not  observed  in  the  other  nations  that  we  have  seen  upon  our 
route.  .  .  .  We  take  leave  of  our  Illinois  at  the  end  of  June 
about  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  We  embark  in  the  sight 
of  all  the  people,  who  admire  our  little  canoes,  for  they  have 
never  seen  any  like  them.  .  .  . 

While  skirting  some  rocks  which  by  their  height  and  length  strange 
inspired  awe,  we  saw^  upon  one  of  them  two  painted  monsters  pictures  on 
which  at  first  made  us  afraid,  and  upon  which  the  boldest  sav-  Alton 
ages  dare  not  long  rest  their  eyes.    They  are  as  large  as  a  calf ; 
they  have  horns  on  their  heads  like  those  of  deer,  a  horrible 
look,  red  eyes,  a  beard  like  a  tiger's,  a  face  somewhat  like  a 
man's,  a  body  covered  with  scales.  .   .  . 

While  w^e   were   conversing  about  these  monsters,  sailing  They  reach 
quietly  in  clear  and  calm  water,  we  heard  the  noise  of  a  rapid  ^^^  mouth  of 

,  .   ,  ,  -r   1  1  •  the  Missouri 

mto  which  we  were  about  to  run.  I  have  seen  nothmg  more 
dreadful.  An  accumulation  of  large  and  entire  trees,  branches, 
and  floating  islands  was  issuing  from  the  mouth  of  the  river 
Pekitanoui  [i.e.  Missouri]  with  such  impetuosity  that  we  could 
not  without  great  danger  risk  passing  through  it.  So  great  was 
the  agitation  that  the  water  was  very  muddy  and  could  not 
become  clear.  The  Pekitanoui  is  a  river  of  considerable  size 
coming  from  the  northwest,  from  a  great  distance,  and  it  dis- 
charges into  the  Mississippi.  There  are  many  villages  of  sav- 
ages along  this  river,  and  I  hope  by  its  means  to  discover  the 
Vermilion  or  California  Sea.   .  .  . 


I20  Readijigs  in  Modem  European  Histo?y 

(Condensed)  After  escaping  as  best  we  could  the  dangerous  rapid  we 
proceeded  south.  After  a  long  journey  we  reached  the  large 
village  of  Akamsea  [Arkansas].  In  the  evening  the  elders 
held  a  secret  council  in  regard  to  the  design  entertained  by 
some  to  break  our  heads  and  rob  us  ;  but  the  chief  put  a  stop 
to  all  these  plots.  After  sending  for  us  he  danced  the  calumet 
before  us  as  a  token  of  our  entire  safety,  and  to  relieve  us  of 
all  fear  he  made  me  a  present  of  it. 
Reasons  for  Monsieur  Joliet  and  I  held  another  council  to  deliberate 

discontinuing  ^^q^^  what  we  should  do, — whether  we  should  push  on,  or 
of  the  remain  content  with  the  discovery  which  we  had  made.    After 

Mississippi  attentively  considering  that  we  were  not  far  from  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico,  the  basin  of  which  is  at  the  latitude  of  31  degrees  and 
60  minutes,  while  we  were  at  33  degrees  40  minutes  we  judged 
that  we  could  not  be  more  than  two  or  three  days'  journey  from 
it,  and  that  beyond  a  doubt  the  Mississippi  River  discharges 
into  the  Florida  or  Mexican  gulf,  and  not  to  the  east  in  Vir- 
ginia, whose  seacoast  is  at  34  degrees  of  latitude,  —  which  we 
had  passed  without,  however,  having  as  yet  reached  the  sea,  — 
or  to  the  west  in  California,  because  in  that  case  our  route, 
would  have  been  to  the  west  or  the  west-southwest,  whereas 
we  had  always  continued  it  toward  the  south.  We  further  con- 
sidered that  we  exposed  ourselves  to  the  risk  of  losing  the 
results  of  this  voyage,  of  which  we  could  give  no  information 
if  we  proceeded  to  fling  ourselves  into  the  hands  of  the  Span- 
iards, who,  without  doubt,  would  at  least  have  detained  us  as 
captives.  Moreover,  we  saw  very  plainly  that  we  were  not  in  a 
condition  to  resist  savages  allied  to  the  Europeans,  who  were 
numerous  and  expert  in  firing  guns,  and  who  continually  in- 
fested the  lower  part  of  the  river.  Finally,  we  had  obtained 
all  the  information  that  could  be  desired  in  regard  to  this  dis- 
covery. All  these  reasons  induced  us  to  decide  upon  returning ; 
this  we  announced  to  the  savages,  and  after  a  day's  rest  made 
our  preparations  for  it.   .   .   . 

We  therefore  reascend  the  Mississippi,  which  gives  us  much 
trouble  in  breasting  its  currents.  ...  It  is  true  that  we  leave  it 
at  about  the  38th  degree,  which  greatly  shortens  our  road  and 
takes  us  with  but  little  effort  to  the  lake  of  the  Illinois.   .   .  . 


Rivalry  of  France  and  England  in  NortJi  America     1 2 1 

One  of  the  chiefs  of  this  nation,  with  his  young  men,  escorted 
us  to  the  lake  of  the  lUinois,  whence  at  last,  at  the  end  of 
September,  we  reached  the  Bay  des  Puants,  from  which  we  had 
started  the  beginning  of  June. 

The  arrival  (in  1607)  of  the  settlers  who  were  to 
plant  the  colony  of  Virginia  is  described  by  Captain 
John  Smith. 

You  shall  understand  that  after  many  crosses  in  the  downs  59.  Captain 

by  tempests  we  arrived  safely  upon  the  southwest  part  of  the  J°^^  Smith's 

A         •  ITT.  1  •      r  \-  1  r  ■■,    r       dcscription  of 

great  Canaries.    vVithm  four  or  five  days  after,  we  set  sail  for  the  landing  in 

Dominica,  the  26th  of  April.  The  first  land  we  made,  we  fell  Virginia 
with  Cape  Henry,  the  very  mouth  of  the  Bay  of  Chissiapiacke,  ^^^^^ 
which  at  that  present  we  little  expected,  having  by  a  cruel 
storm  been  put  to  the  northward.  Anchoring  in  this  bay, 
twenty  or  thirty  went  ashore  with  the  captain,  and  in  coming 
aboard,  they  were  assaulted  with  certain  Indians,  which  charged 
them  within  pistol  shot :  in  which  conflict,  Captain  Archer  and 
Mathew  Morton  were  shot :  whereupon  Captain  Newport, 
seconding  them,  made  a  shot  at  them,  which  the  Indians 
little  respected,  but  having  spent  their  arrows  retired  with- 
out harm. 

And  in  that  place  was  the  box  opened,  wherein  the  Council  The  govem- 
for  Virginia  was  nominated :  and  arriving  at  the  place  where  ^^^^  ^^  ^^*  "P 
we  are  now  seated,  the  council  was  sworn,  and  the  president 
elected,  which  for  that  year  was  Maister  Edm.  Maria  Wingfield, 
where  was  made  choice  for  our  situation,  a  very  fit  place  for 
the  erecting  of  a  great  city,  about  which  some  contention 
passed  betwixt  Captain  Wingfield  and  Captain  Gosnold,  not- 
withstanding all  our  provision  was  brought  ashore,  and  with  as 
much  speed  as  might  be  we  went  about  our  fortification. 

The  two  and  twenty  day  of  April,  Captain  Newport  and  my-  Smith  and 
self  with  divers  others,  to  the  number  of  twenty-two  persons,  ^°"^^  ^^^' 

r  1  T  ,.  --..,         panions  ex- 

set  forward  to  discover  the   river,  some  fifty  or  sixty  miles,  pi^re  inland 
finding  it  in  some  places  broader,  and  in  some  narrower,  the 
country  (for  the  most  part)  on  each  side  plain  high  ground, 
with  many  fresh  springs,  the  people  in  places  kindly  entreating 


emperor 
of  Powhatan 


122  Readings  in  Modem  Eiiropemi  History 

us,  dancing,  and  feasting  us  with  strawberries,  mulberries,  bread, 
fish,  and  other  their  country  provisions  whereof  we  had  plenty  : 
for  which  Captain  Newport  kindly  requited  their  least  favors 
with  bells,  pins,  needles,  beads,  or  glasses,  which  so  contented 
them  that  his  liberality  made  them  follow  us  from  place  to 
place,  and  ever  kindly  to  respect  us. 
They  visit  the  In  the  midway,  staying  to  refresh  ourselves  in  a  little  isle, 
four  or  five  savages  came  unto  us,  which  described  unto  us  the 
course  of  the  river,  and  after  in  our  journey  they  often  met 
us,  trading  with  us  for  such  provision  as  we  had ;  and  arriving 
at  Arsatecke,  he  whom  we  supposed  to  be  the  chief  king  of  all 
the  rest,  most  kindly  entertained  us,  giving  us  in  a  guide  to 
go  with  us  up  the  river  to  Powhatan,  of  which  place  their  great 
emperor  taketh  his  name,  where  he  that  they  honored  for  king 
used  us  kindly.  But  to  finish  this  discovery,  we  passed  on 
further,  where  within  an  isle  we  were  intercepted  with  great 
craggy  stones  in  the  midst  of  the  river,  where  the  water  falleth 
so  rudely,  and  with  such  a  violence,  as  not  any  boat  can  pos- 
sibly pass,  and  so  broad  disperseth  the  stream,  as  there  is  not 
past  five  or  six  foot  at  a  low  water,  and  to  the  shore  scarce 
passage  with  a  barge,  the  water  floweth  four  foot,  and  the 
freshes  by  reason  of  the  rocks  have  left  marks  of  the  inunda- 
tions 8  or  9  foot.  The  south  side  is  plain  low  ground,  and  the 
north  side  high  mountains,  the  rocks  being  of  a  gravelly  nature, 
interlaced  with  many  veins  of  glistering  spangles. 

That  night  we  returned  to  Powhatan  :  the  next  day  (being 
Whitsunday,  after  dinner)  we  returned  to  the  falls,  leaving  a 
mariner  in  pawn  with  the  Indians  for  a  guide  of  theirs  ;  he  that 
they  honored  for  king  followed  us  by  the  river.  That  afternoon 
we  trifled  in  looking  upon  the  rocks  and  river  (further  he  would 
not  go),  so  there  we  erected  a  cross,  and  that  night  taking  our 
man  at  Powhatans,  Captain  Newport  congratulated  his  kind- 
ness with  a  gown  and  a  hatchet  :  returning  to  Arsetecke,  and 
stayed  there  the  next  day  to  observe  the  height  thereof,  and  so 
with  many  signs  of  love  we  departed. 

The  story  of  the  landing  of  the  Pilgrims  is  told 
by  William  Bradford,  one  of  the  original  band,  in  his 


Rivalry  of  Fr mice  and  England  in  North  America     123 

History  of  the  Plymouth  Plantatio7i^  from  which  the  fol- 
lowing is  taken  : 

But  to  omite  other  things,  (that  I  may  be  breefe,)  after  longe  60.  Landing 
beating  at  sea  they  fell  with  that  land  which  is  called  Cape  at  Plymouth 
Cod ;  the  which  being  made  &  certainly  knowne  to  be  it,  they  foj.^) 
were  not  a  little  joyfull.  After  some  deliberation  had  amongst 
them  selves  &  with  y^  m''.  of  y^  ship,  they  tacked  aboute  and 
resolved  to  stande  for  y^  southward  (y^  wind  &  weather  being 
faire)  to  finde  some  place  aboute  Hudsons  river  for  their  hab- 
itation. But  after  they  had  sailed  yt  course  aboute  halfe  y^  day, 
they  fell  amongst  deangerous  shoulds  and  roring  breakers,  and 
they  were  so  farr  intangled  ther  with  as  they  conceived  them 
selves  in  great  danger ;  &  y®  wind  shrinking  upon  them  with- 
all,  they  resolved  to  bear  up  againe  for  the  Cape,  and  thought 
them  selves  hapy  to  gett  out  of  those  dangers  before  night 
overtooke  them,  as  by  Gods  providence  they  did.  And  y^  next 
day  they  gott  into  y^  Cape-harbor  wher  they  ridd  in  saftie.  A 
word  or  too  by  y®  way  of  this  cape  ;  it  was  thus  first  named  by 
Capten  Gosnole  &  his  company,  An° :  1602,  and  after  by 
Capten  Smith  was  caled  Cape  James  ;  but  it  retains  y^  former 
name  amongst  seamen.  Also  y^  pointe  which  first  shewed  those 
dangerous  shoulds  unto  them,  they  called  Pointe  Care,  & 
Tuckers  Terrour ;  but  y^  French  &  Dutch  to  this  day  call  it 
Malabarr,  by  reason  of  those  perilous  shoulds,  and  y^  losses 
they  have  suffered  their. 

Being  thus  arived  in  a  good  harbor  and  brought  safe  to  land, 
they  fell  upon  their  knees  &  blessed  y^  God  of  heaven,  who 
had  brought  them  over  y^  vast  &  furious  ocean,  and  delivered 
them  from  all  y^  periles  &  miseries  thereof,  againe  to  set  their 
feete  on  y^  firme  and  stable  earth,  their  proper  elemente.  And 
no  marvell  if  they  were  thus  joyefull,  seeing  wise  Seneca  was 
so  affected  with  sailing  a  few  miles  on  y^  coast  of  his  owne 
Italy  ;  as  he  affirmed,  that  he  had  rather  remaine  twentie  years 
on  his  way  by  land,  then  pass  by  sea  to  any  place  in  a  short 
time ;  so  tedious  &  dreadfull  was  y^  same  unto  him. 

But  hear  I  cannot  but  stay  and  make  a  pause,  and  stand  half 
amased  at  this  poore  peoples  presente  condition  ;    and  so  I 


124  Readings  in  Modern  E2iropea7i  History 

The  hardships  thiiike  will  the  reader  too,  when  he  well  considers  y^  same, 
endured  by       Being  thus  passed  y^  vast  ocean,  and  a  sea  of  troubles  before 

the  Pilgrims       .,.  ^  .         .  .  ^        ^  ^  ,., 

in  their  preparation  (as  may  be  remembred  by  yt  which  wente 
before),  they  had  now  no  friends  to  wellcome  them,  nor  inns 
to  entertaine  or  refresh  their  weatherbeaten  bodys,  no  houses 
or  much  less  townes  to  repaire  too,  to  seeke  for  succoure.  It 
is  recorded  in  scripture  as  a  mercie  to  y«  apostle  &  his  ship- 
wraked  company,  yt  the  barbarians  shew^ed  them  no  smale 
kindnes  in  refreshing  them,  but  these  savage  barbarians,  when 
they  mette  with  them  (as  after  wdll  appeare)  were  readier  to 
fill  their  sids  full  of  arrows  then  otherwise.  And  for  y^  season 
it  was  winter,  and  they  that  know  y^  winters  of  yt  countrie 
know  them  to  be  sharp  &  violent,  &  subjecte  to  cruell  &  feirce 
stormes,  deangerous  to  travill  to  known  places,  much  more  to 
serch  an  unknown  coast.  Besids,  w^hat  could  they  see  but  a 
hidious  &  desolate  wildernes,  full  of  wild  beasts  &  willd  men? 
and  what  multituds  ther  might  be  of  them  they  knew  not. 
Nether  could  they,  as  it  were,  goe  up  to  y^  tope  of  Pisgah,  to 
vew  from  this  willdernes  a  more  goodly  cuntrie  to  feed  their 
hops ;  for  which  way  soever  they  turnd  their  eys  (save  upward 
to  y^  heavens)  they  could  have  little  solace  or  content  in  re- 
specte  of  any  outward  objects.  For  suiiier  being  done,  all 
things  stand  upon  them  with  a  wetherbeaten  face;  and  y^ 
whole  countrie,  full  of  woods  &  thickets,  represented  a  wild  & 
savage  heiw.  If  they  looked  behind  them,  ther  was  y^  mighty 
ocean  which  they  had  passed,  and  was  now  as  a  maine  barr  & 
goulfe  to  seperate  them  from  all  y^  civill  parts  of  y^  world.  .  .  . 
What  could  now  sustaine  them  but  y^  spirite  of  God  &  his 
grace?  May  not  &  ought  not  the  children  of  these  fathers 
rightly  say :  Our  faithers  were  Englishmen  which  came  over 
this  great  ocean,  and  were  7'eady  to  perish  in  this  willdernes  ; 
but  they  cried  unto  y^  Lord,  and  he  heard  their  voyce,  and 
looked  on  their  adversitie,  dr^c.  Let  thetn  therfore  praise  y' 
Lord,  because  he  is  good,  6^  his  mercies  endure  for  ever.  Yea^ 
let  them  which  have  been  redeejned  of  y^  Lord,  shew  how  he 
hath  delivered  them  from  y"  hand  of  y^  oppressour.  When  they 
wandered  in  y^  deserte  willdernes  out  of  y'  way,  and  found 
no  citie  to  dwell  in,  both  hungrie,  &  thirstie,  their  soivle  was 


Rivaby  of  France  and  Eyigland  in  North  Ameiica     125 

overwhelmed  in  them.    Let  them  confess  before  y^  Lord  his  lov- 
ing kindnes,  and  his  wonderfull  works  defo?-e  y^  so?is  of  men. 

Here  follows  William  Penn's  letter  to  Robert  Turner 
concerning  the  grant  of  the  province  of  Pennsylvania 
from  Charles  II  (1681). 

Dear  Friend  : 

My  true  love  in  the  Lord  salutes  thee  and  dear  Friends  that  6i.  HowPenn 
love  the  Lord's  precious  Truth  in  those  parts.  Thine  I  have  ;  received  his 
and  for  my  business  here,  know  that  after  many  waitings,  watch-  ^^^g  Charies 
ings,  solicitings,  and  disputes  in  council,  this  day  my  country  II  (1681) 
was  confirmed  to  me  under  the  great  seal  of  England,  with 
large  powers  and  privileges,  by  the  name  of  Pennsylvania  ;  a 
name  the  king  would  give  it  in  honor  of  my  father.  I  chose 
New  Wales,  being,  as  this,  a  pretty  hilly  country  ;  but  Penn 
being  Welsh  for  a  head,  as  Penmanmoire  in  Wales,  and  Penrith 
in  Cumberland,  and  Penn  in  Buckinghamshire,  the  highest  land 
in  England,  [the  king]  called  this  Pennsylvania,  which  is  the 
high  or  head  woodlands  ;  for  I  proposed,  when  the  secretary, 
a  Welshman,  refused  to  have  it  New  Wales,  Sylvania,  and 
they  added  Penn  to  it ;  and  though  I  much  opposed  it,  and 
went  to  the  king  to  have  it  struck  out  and  altered,  he  said  it 
was  past,  and  would  take  it  upon  him  ;  nor  could  twenty 
guineas  move  the  undersecretary  to  vary  the  name  ;  for  I 
feared  lest  it  should  be  looked  on  as  a  vanity  in  me,  and  not 
as  a  respect  in  the  king,  as  it  truly  was,  to  my  father,  whom  he 
often  mentions  with  praise.  Thou  mayest  communicate  my 
grant  to  Friends,  and  expect  shortly  my  proposals. 

It  is  a  clear  and  just  thing,  and  my  God  that  has  given  it 
me  through  many  difficulties  will,  I  believe,  bless  and  make  it 
the  seed  of  a  nation.  I  shall  have  a  tender  care  to  the  govern- 
ment, that  it  be  well  laid  at  first.  No  more  now,  but  dear  love 
in  the  Truth. 

Thy  true  Friend, 

William  Penn 


126  Readings  in  Modem  European  Histo?y 

Section  20.    Struggle  between  France  and  Ejiglarid  for 
North  America 


A  Frenchman,  whose  name  is  not  known,  gives  us  a 
good  brief  account  of  General  Braddock's  defeat  (1755). 

62.  AFrench-       M.  de  Contrecoeur,  Captain  of   Infantry,  Commandant  of 

man's  ac-        YoxX.  Duquesne,  on  the  Ohio,  having  been  informed  that  the 

count  of  ^      ,.  ,    ^  ,  .  .     ^^.     .    .     ,        . 

Braddock's      Lnghsh  were  takmg  up  arms  m  Virgmia  tor  the  purpose  of 

defeat  coming  to  attack  him,  was  advised,  shortly  afterwards,  that 

they  were  on  the  march.  He  dispatched  scouts,  who  reported 
to  him  faithfully  their  progress.  On  the  17th  instant  he  was 
advised  that  their  army,  consisting  of  3000  regulars  from  Old 
England,  were  within  six  leagues  of  this  fort.  That  officer  em- 
ployed the  next  day  in  making  his  arrangements ;  and  on  the 
ninth  detached  M.  de  Beaujeu,  seconded  by  Messrs.  Dumas 
and  de  Lignery,  all  three  Captains,  together  with  four  Lieu- 
tenants, 6  Ensigns,  20  Cadets,  100  Soldiers,  100  Canadians, 
and  600  Indians,  with  orders  to  lie  in  ambush  at  a  favorable 
spot,  which  he  had  reconnoitered  the  previous  evening.  " 

The  detachment,  before  it  could  reach  its  place  of  destina- 
tion, found  itself  in  presence  of  the  enemy  within  three  leagues 
of  that  fort.  M.  de  Beaujeu,  finding  his  ambush  had  failed, 
decided  on  an  attack.  This  he  made  with  so  much  vigor  as 
to  astonish  the  enemy,  who  were  waiting  for  us  in  the  best 
possible  order  ;  but  their  artillery,  loaded  with  grape,  having 
opened  its  fire,  our  men  gave  way  in  turn.  The  Indians,  also, 
frightened  by  the  report  of  the  cannon  rather  than  by  any 
damage  it  could  inflict,  began  to  yield,  when  M.  de  Beaujeu 
was  killed.  M.  Dumas  began  to  encourage  his  detachment. 
He  ordered  the  officers  in  command  of  the  Indians  to  spread 
themselves  along  the  wings  so  as  to  take  the  enemy  in  flank, 
whilst  he,  M.  de  Lignery,  and  the  other  officers  who  led  the 
French  were  attacking  them  in  front.  This  order  was  exe- 
cuted so  promptly  that  the  enemy,  who  were  already  shouting 
their  "  Long  live  the  King,"  thought  now  only  of  defending 
themselves. 


Rivalry  of  France  and  England  in  North  America     127 

The  fight  was  obstmate  on  both  sides  and  success  long  doubt- 
ful ;  but  the  enemy  at  last  gave  way.  Efforts  were  made,  in 
vain,  to  introduce  some  sort  of  order  in  their  retreat.  The 
whoop  of  the  Indians,  which  echoed  through  the  forest,  struck 
terror  into  the  hearts  of  the  entire  enemy.  The  rout  was 
complete.  We  remained  in  possession  of  the  field  with  six 
brass  twelves  and  sixes,  four  howitz-carriages  of  50,  11  small 
royal  grenade  mortars,  all  their  ammunition,  and,  generally, 
their  entire  baggage.  .  .  . 

The  enemy  have  left  more  than  1000  men  on  the  field  of 
battle.  They  have  lost  a  great  portion  of  the  artillery,  ammu- 
nition and  provisions,  as  also  their  General,  whose  name  was 
Mr.  Braddock,  and  almost  all  their  officers.  We  have  had 
3  officers  killed  ;  2  officers  and  2  cadets  wounded.  Such  a 
victory,  so  entirely  unexpected,  seeing  the  inequality  of  the 
forces,  is  the  fruit  of  M.  Dumas's  experience,  and  of  the  activity 
and  valor  of  the  officers  under  his  command. 

General  Wolfe  wrote  the  following  letter  to  his  mother 
a  fortnight  before  he  was  killed  in  his  memorable  attack 
upon  the  French  at  Quebec. 

Banks  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  31st  August,  1759 

Dear  Madam : 

My  writing  to  you  will  convince  you  that  no  personal  evils,  63.  A  letter 

worse  than  defeats  and  disappointments,  have  fallen  upon  me.  ^*  General 

,  .  ^^ .  ,  IT,-  •  Wolfe's  to 

ine  enemy  puts  nothmg  to  risk,  and  I  cant,  m  conscience,  his  mother 

put  the  whole  army  to  risk.  My  antagonist  has  wisely  shut  him- 
self up  in  inaccessible  entrenchments,  so  that  I  can't  get  at 
him  without  spilling  a  torrent  of  blood,  and  that  perhaps  to 
little  purpose.  The  Marquis  de  Montcalm  is  at  the  head  of  a 
great  number  of  bad  soldiers,  and  I  am  at  the  head  of  a  small 
number  of  good  ones,  that  wish  for  nothing  so  much  as  to  fight 
him ;  but  the  wary  old  fellow  avoids  an  action,  doubtful  of  the 
behavior  of  his  army.  People  must  be  of  the  profession  to 
understand  the  disadvantages  and  difficulties  we  labor  under, 
arising  from  the  uncommon  natural  strength  of  the  country. 

I  approve  entirely  of  my  father's  disposition  of  his  affairs, 
though  it  may  interfere  a  little  matter  with  my  plan  of  quitting 


128  Readings  in  Moderjt  European  History 

the  service,  which  I  am  determined  to  do  the  first  opportunity, 
—  I  mean  so  as  not  to  be  absokitely  distressed  in  circumstances, 
nor  burdensome  to  you  or  anybody  else.  I  wish  you  much 
health,  and  am,  dear  Madam, 

Your  obedient  and  affectionate  Son, 

Jam.  Wolfe 

Captain  John  Knox,  in  a  letter  written  immediately 
after  the  English  victory  at  Quebec,  gave  an  account  of 
the  battle  and  the  death  of  Wolfe  and  Montcalm.  After 
describing  the  landing  of  sixteen  hundred  English  troops 
at  the  foot  of  the  heights  upon  which  the  town  is  situ- 
ated, he  continues  : 

64.  The  bat-        We  lost  no  time  here,  but  clambered  up  one  of  the  steepest 

tie  of  Quebec  precipices  that  can  be  conceived,  being  almost  a  perpendicular, 
(September      ^    ,    ^,         .  jm  1     ,     •   ,.      *  •      j  A 

13. 1759)  ^'^^  ^^  ^^  mcredible  height.  As  soon  as  we  gamed  the  summit, 
all  was  quiet,  and  not  a  shot  was  heard,  owing  to  the  excellent 
conduct  of  the  light  infantry  under  Colonel  Howe ;  it  was  by 
this  time  clear  daylight.  Here  we  formed  again,  the  river  and 
the  south  country  in  our  rear,  our  right  extending  to  the  town, 
our  left  to  Sillery,  and  halted  a  few  minutes.  The  General  then 
detached  the  light  troops  to  our  left  to  rout  the  enemy  from 
their  battery,  and  to  disable  their  guns,  except  they  could  be 
rendered  serviceable  to  the  party  who  were  to  remain  there ; 
and  this  service  was  soon  performed.  We  then  faced  to  the 
right,  and  marched  towards  the  town  by  files,  till  we  came  to 
the  plains  of  Abraham,  —  an  even  piece  of  ground  which  Mr. 
Wolfe  had  made  choice  of  while  we  stood  forming  upon  the 
hill.  Weather  showery  :  about  six  o'clock  the  enemy  first  made 
their  appearance  upon  the  heights,  between  us  and  the  town ; 
whereupon  we  halted,  and  wheeled  to  the  right,  thereby  form- 
ing the  line  of  battle.  .  .  .  The  enemy  had  now  likewise 
formed  the  line  of  battle,  and  got  some  cannon  to  play  on  us, 
with  round  and  canister  shot ;  but  what  galled  us  most  was  a 
body  of  Indians  and  other  marksmen  they  had  concealed  in 
the  corn  opposite  to  the  front  of  our  right  wing,  and  a  coppice 
that  stood  opposite  to  our  center,  inclining  towards  our  left; 


Rivalry  of  France  and  England  in  North  America     1 29 

but  the  Colonel  Hale,  by  Brigadier  Monckton's  orders,  advanced 
some  platoons,  alternately,  from  the  forty-seventh  regiment, 
which,  after  a  few  rounds,  obliged  these  skulkers  to  retire ;  we 
were  now  ordered  to  lie  down,  and  remained  some  time  in  this 
position.  About  ten  o'clock  the  enemy  began  to  advance 
briskly  in  three  columns,  with  loud  shouts  and  recovered  arms, 
two  of  them  inclining  to  the  left  of  our  army,  and  the  third 
towards  our  right,  firing  obliquely  at  the  two  extremities  of  our 
line,  from  the  distance  of  one  hundred  and  thirty  yards,  until 
they  came  within  forty  yards  ;  which  our  troops  withstood  with 
the  greatest  intrepidity  and  firmness,  still  reserving  their  fire, 
and  paying  the  strictest  obedience  to  their  officers  :  this  un- 
common steadiness,  together  with  the  havoc  which  the  grape- 
shot  from  our  fieldpieces  made  among  them,  threw  them  into 
some  disorder,  and  was  most  critically  maintained  by  a  well- 
timed,  regular,  and  heavy  discharge  of  our  small  arms,  such  as 
they  could  no  longer  oppose ;  hereupon  they  gave  way,  and 
fled  with  precipitation,  so  that,  by  the  time  the  cloud  of  smoke 
was  vanished,  our  men  were  again  loaded,  and,  profiting  by 
the  advantage  we  had  over  them,  pursued  them  almost  to  the 
gates  of  the  town.  .   .  . 

A  body  of  the  enemy  made  a  stand,  as  if  willing  to  renew  Wolfe 
the  action ;  but  a  few  platoons  from  these  corps  completed  receives  a 
our  victory.    Then  it  was  that  Brigadier  Townshend  came  up,  wound 
called  off  the  pursuers,  ordered  the  whole  line  to  dress,  and 
recover  their  former  ground.    Our  joy  at  this  success  is  inex- 
pressibly damped  by  the  loss  we  sustained  of  one  of  the  great- 
est heroes  which  this  or  any  other  age  can  boast  of,  —  General 
James  Wolfe,  who  received  his  mortal  wound  as  he  was  exert- 
ing himself  at  the  head  of  the  grenadiers  of  Louisburg.  .   .   . 

.  .  .  The  Sieur  de  Montcalm  died  late  last  night ;  when  his  The  death  of 
wound  was  dressed,  and  he  settled  in  bed,  the  surgeons  who  Montcalm 
attended  him  were  desired  to  acquaint  him  ingenuously  with 
their  sentiments  of  him,  and,  being  answered  that  his  wound 
was  mortal,  he  calmly  replied  that  he  was  glad  of  it :  his  Excel- 
lency then  demanded,  whether  he  could  survive  it  long, 
and  how  long.  He  was  told,  "about  a  dozen  hours,  perhaps 
more,  peradventure  less."   "  So  much  the  better,"  rejoined  this 


130  Readings  in  Modern  European  History 

eminent  warrior  :   "  I  am  happy  I  shall  not  live  to  see  the  sur- 
render of  Quebec."  .  .  . 
Wolfe  dies  After  our  late  worthy  General,  of  renowned  memory,  was 

after  learning  carried  off  wounded,  to  the  rear  of  the  front  line,  he  desired 

01  his  victory 

those  who  were  about  him  to  lay  him  down  ;  being  asked  if  he 
would  have  a  surgeon,  he  replied,  "  It  is  needless ;  it  is  all  over 
with  me."  One  of  them  cried  out,  "  They  run  !  see  how  they 
run ! "  "  Who  runs  ?  "  demanded  our  hero,  with  great  earnestness, 
like  a  person  roused  from  sleep.  The  officer  answered,  "  The 
enemy,  Sir ;  Egad !  they  give  way  everywhere."  Whereupon  the 
General  rejoined,  "  Go  one  of  you,  my  lads,  to  Colonel  Bur- 
ton ;  tell  him  to  march  Webb's  regiment  with  all  speed  down 
to  Charles's  river,  to  cut  off  the  retreat  of  the  fugitives  from 
the  bridge."  Then,  turning  on  his  side,  he  added,  "  Now,  God 
be  praised,  I  will  die  in  peace  "  ;  and  thus  expired. 

Section  21.    Revolt  of  the  American  Colonies  from 
England 

John  Andrew^s,  Esq.,  of  Boston,  writes  to  a  friend 
about  the  Boston  Tea  Party,  which  occurred  the  evening 
before  last : 

December  i8th  [1773] 

65.  John  However  precarious  our  situation  may  be,  yet  such  is  the 

Andrews  on  present  calm  composure  of  the  people  that  a  stranger  would 
the  Boston    ,,,,.,,  ,  j  j  t  r     1       t- 

Tea  Party    hardly  thmk  that  ten  thousand  pounds  sterlmg  of   the  Last 

India  Company's  tea  was  destroyed  the  night,  or  rather  evening, 

before  last,  yet  it's  a  serious  truth  ;  and  if  yours,  together  with 

the  other  Southern  provinces,  should  rest  satisfied  with  their 

quota  being  stored,  poor  Boston  will  feel  the  whole  weight 

of  ministerial  vengeance.    However,  it 's  the  opinion  of  most 

people  that  we  stand  an  equal  chance  now,  whether  troops  are 

sent  in  consequence  of  it  or  not ;  whereas,  had  it  been  stored, 

we  should  inevitably  have  had  them,  to  enforce  the  sale  of  it. 

The  attempt       The  affair  was  transacted  with  the  greatest  regularity  and 

to  send  the     despatch.  ...    A  general  muster  was   assembled,  from  this 

away  faUs      ^^^  ^^  the  neighboring  towns,  to  the  number  of  five  or  six 

thousand,  at  10  o'clock  Thursday  morning  in  the  Old  South 


Rivalry  of  France  and  England  in  NortJi  America     131 

Meeting  House,  where  they  passed  a  unanimous  vote  that  the 
Tea  should  go  out  of  the  harbor  that  afternoon,  and  sent  a 
committee  with  Mr.  Rotch  ^  to  the  Customhouse  to  demand 
a  clearance,  which  the  collector  told  them  it  was  not  in  his 
power  to  give,  without  the  duties  being  first  paid.  They  then 
sent  Mr.  Rotch  to  Milton,  to  ask  a  pass  from  the  Governor, 
who  sent  for  answer,  that  ''  consistent  with  the  rules  of  govern- 
ment and  his  duty  to  the  King  he  could  not  grant  one  without 
they  produced  a  previous  clearance  from  the  office."  By  the 
time  he  returned  with  this  message  the  candles  were  light  in 
the  house,  and  upon  reading  it,  such  prodigious  shouts  were 
made,  that  induced  me,  while  drinking  tea  at  home,  to  go  out 
and  know  the  cause  of  it.  The  house  was  so  crowded  I  could 
get  no  farther  than  the  porch,  when  I  found  the  moderator 
was  just  declaring  the  meeting  to  be  dissolved,  which  caused 
another  general  shout,  out  doors  and  in,  and  three  cheers. 
What  with  that,  and  the  consequent  noise  of  breaking  up  the 
meeting,  you  'd  thought  that  the  inhabitants  of  the  infernal 
regions  had  broke  loose. 

For  my  part,  I  went  contentedly  home  and  finished  my  tea.  The  "Tea 
but  was  soon  informed  what  was  going  forward  ;  but  still  not  Party  "is 
crediting  it  without  ocular  demonstration,  I  went  and  was  sat- 
isfied. They  mustered,  I  'm  told,  upon  Fort  Hill  to  the  number 
of  about  two  hundred,  and  proceeded,  two  by  two,  to  Griffin's 
wharf,  where  Hall^  Bj'ttce,  and  Coffin  lay,  each  with  114  chests 
of  the  ill-fated  article  on  board  ;  the  two  former  with  only  that 
article,  but  the  latter,  arrived  at  the  wharf  only  the  day  before, 
was  freighted  with  a  large  quantity  of  other  goods,  which  they 
took  the  greatest  care  not  to  injure  in  the  least,  and  before 
nine  o'clock  in  the  evening  every  chest  from  on  board  the  three 
vessels  was  knocked  to  pieces  and  flung  over  the  sides. 

They  say  the  actors  were  Indians  from  Narragansett.  Whether  The  rioters 
they  were  or  not,  to  a  transient  observer  they  appeared  as  such,  disguised  as 
being  clothed  in  blankets  with  the  heads  mufiled,  and  cop- 
per-colored countenances,  being  each  armed  with  a  hatchet 
or  ax,  and  pair  pistols,  nor  was  their  dialect  different  from 
what  I  conceive  these  geniuses  to  speak,  as  their  jargon  was 
^  Owner  of  one  of  the  tea  ships. 


132  Readings  in  Modern  European  History 

unintelligible  to  all  but  themselves.  Nor  the  least  insult  was 
offered  to  any  person,  save  one  Captain  Connor,  a  letter  of 
horses  in  this  place,  not  many  years  since  removed  from  dear 
Ireland,  who  had  ript  up  the  lining  of  his  coat  and  waistcoat 
under  the  arms,  and  watching  his  opportunity  had  nearly  filled 
them  with  tea,  but  being  detected,  was  handled  pretty  roughly. 
They  not  only  stripped  him  of  his  clothes,  but  gave  him  a  coat 
of  mud,  with  a  severe  bruising  into  the  bargain  ;  and  nothing 
but  their  utter  aversion  to  make  any  disturbance  prevented 
his  being  tarred  and  feathered. 

Should  not  have  troubled  you  with  this,  by  this  post,  hadn't 
I  thought  you  would  be  glad  of  a  more  particular  account  of 
so  important  a  transaction  than  you  could  have  obtained  by 
common  report ;  and  if  it  affords  my  brother  but  a  temporary 
amusement,  I  shall  be  more  than  repaid  for  the  trouble  of 
writing  it. 

The  elder  Pitt  thus  spoke  in  the  House  of  Commons, 
January  20,  1775,  on  the  growing  difficulties  betv^een 
the  king  and  his  American  colonies. 

66.  Pitt  on  This  resistance  to  your  arbitrary  system  of  taxation  might 

the  question    j^g^yg  been  foreseen ;  it  was  obvious  from  the  nature  of  things 

ingThe  Eng^'  ^^^   ^'^  mankind,   and,  above   all,   from   the  Whiggish   spirit 

lish  troops       flourishing  in  that  country.    The  spirit  which  now  resists  your 

from  Boston    taxation  in  America  is  the  same  which  formerly  opposed  loans, 

1775)       '        benevolences,  and  ship  money  in  England  ;    the  same  spirit 

which  called  all  England  on  its  legs,  and  by  the  Bill  of  Rights 

vindicated   the   English  constitution ;   the  same   spirit  which 

established  the  great,  fundamental,  essential  maxim  of  your 

liberties,  that  no  subject  of  England  shall  be  taxed  but  by  his 

own  consent. 

This  glorious  spirit  of  Whiggism  animates  three  millions  in 
America,  who  prefer  poverty  with  liberty  to  gilded  chains  and 
sordid  affluence,  and  who  will  die  in  the  defense  of  their  rights 
as  men,  as  free  men.  What  shall  oppose  this  spirit,  aided  by 
the  congenial  flame  glowing  in  the  breast  of  every  Whig  in 
England,  to   the   amount,   I   hope,   of  double   the  American 


Rivalry  of  F?'ancc  and  England  in  North  America     133 

numbers?  Ireland  they  have  to  a  man.  In  that  country, 
joined  as  it  is  with  the  cause  of  the  colonies,  and  placed  at 
their  head,  the  distinction  I  contend  for  is  and  must  be 
observed.  This  country  superintends  and  controls  their  trade 
and  navigation,  but  they  tax  themselves.  And  this  distinction 
between  external  and  internal  control  is  sacred  and  insur- 
mountable ;    it  is  involved   in  the  abstract  nature  of  things. 

Property  is  private,  individual,  absolute.    Trade  is  an  ex-  Trade  reguia 
tended  and  complicated  consideration ;   it  reaches  as  far  as  ^^^'^  distm- 

,  .  -1  •     1  11  •      •  1  •  guished  from 

ships  can  sail  or  winds  can  blow ;  it  is  a  great  and  various  taxation 
machine.  To  regulate  the  numberless  movements  of  the  several 
parts  and  combine  them  into  effect  for  the  good  of  the  whole, 
requires  the  superintending  wisdom  and  energy  of  the  supreme 
power  in  the  empire.  But  this  supreme  power  has  no  effect 
towards  internal  taxation,  for  it  does  not  exist  in  that  relation  ; 
there  is  no  such  thing,  no  such  idea  in  this  constitution,  as  a 
supreme  power  operating  upon  property.  Let  this  distinction 
then  remain  forever  ascertained  :  taxation  is  theirs,  commer- 
cial regulation  is  ours. 

As  an  American,  I  would  recognize  to  England  her  supreme 
right  of  regulating  commerce  and  navigation;  as  an  English- 
man by  birth  and  principle,  I  recognize  to  the  Americans  their 
supreme  unalienable  right  in  their  property,  —  a  right  which 
they  are  justified  in  the  defense  of  to  the  last  extremity.  To 
maintain  this  principle  is  the  common  cause  of  the  Whigs  on 
the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic  and  on  this.  "  'T  is  liberty  to 
liberty  engaged,"  that  they  will  defend  themselves,  their  fami- 
hes,  and  their  country.  In  this  great  cause  they  are  immovably 
allied  :  it  is  the  alliance  of  God  and  nature,  —  immovable, 
eternal,  fixed  as  the  firmament  of  heaven. 

Four  years  later,  however,  George  III  still  saw  no 
reason  for  not  stubbornly  continuing  the  attempt  to 
hold  the  rebellious  colonies  at  any  cost. 

I  should  think  it  the  greatest  instance  among  the  many 
I  have  met  with  of  ingratitude  and  injustice,  if  it  could  be 
supposed  that  any  man  in  my  dominions  more  ardently  desired 


134  Readings  in  Modern  European  History 


67.  Letter  of 
George  III  to 
Lord  North 
on  the  neces- 
sity of  sub- 
duing the 
American 
colonies 
(June  II, 
X779) 


Dire  conse- 
quences liable 
to  follow 
American 
independence 


the  restoration  of  peace  and  solid  happiness  in  every  part  of 
this  empire  than  I  do ;  there  is  no  personal  sacrifice  I  could 
not  readily  yield  for  so  desirable  an  object ;  but  at  the  same 
time  no  inclination  to  get  out  of  the  present  difficulties,  which 
certainly  keep  my  mind  very  far  from  a  state  of  ease,  can 
incline  me  to  enter  into  what  I  look  upon  as  the  destruction 
of  the  empire.  I  have  heard  Lord  North  frequently  drop  that 
the  advantages  to  be  gained  by  this  contest  could  never  repay 
the  expense  ;  I  own  that,  let  any  war  be  ever  so  successful,  if 
persons  will  sit  down  and  weigh  the  expenses,  they  will  find, 
as  in  the  last,  that  it  has  impoverished  the  state,  enriched 
individuals,  and  perhaps  raised  the  name  only  of  the  con- 
querors. But  this  is  only  weighing  such  events  in  the  scale 
of  a  tradesman  behind  his  counter :  it  is  necessary  for  those 
in  the  station  it  has  pleased  Divine  Providence  to  place  me  to 
weigh  whether  expenses,  though  very  great,  are  not  sometimes 
necessary  to  prevent  what  might  be  more  ruinous  to  a  country 
than  the  loss  of  money. 

The  present  contest  with  America  I  cannot  help  seeing  as 
the  most  serious  in  which  any  country  was  ever  engaged.  It 
contains  such  a  train  of  consequences  that  they  must  be  exam- 
ined to  feel  its  real  weight.  Whether  the  laying  a  tax  was 
deserving  all  the  evils  that  have  arisen  from  it,  I  should 
suppose  no  man  could  allege  that,  without  being  thought  more 
fit  for  Bedlam  than  a  seat  in  the  senate ;  but  step  by  step 
the  demands  of  America  have  risen.  Independence  is  their 
object ;  that  certainly  is  one  which  every  man,  not  willing  to 
sacrifice  every  object  to  a  momentary  and  inglorious  peace, 
must  concur  with  me  in  thinking  that  this  country  can  never 
submit  to. 

Should  America  succeed  in  that,  the  West  Indies  must  fol- 
low them,  —  not  independence,  but  must  for  its  own  interest 
be  dependent  upon  North  America.  Ireland  would  soon  follow 
the  same  plan  and  be  a  separate  state  ;  then  this  island  would 
be  reduced  to  itself,  and  soon  would  be  a  poor  island  indeed, 
for,  reduced  in  her  trade,  merchants  would  retire  with  their 
wealth  to  climates  more  to  their  advantage,  and  shoals  of 
manufacturers  would  leave  this  country  for  the  new  empire. 


Rivalry  of  France  and  Engla?td  in  North  America     1 3  5 

These  self-evident  consequences  are  not  worse  than  what 
can  arise  should  the  Ahnighty  permit  every  event  to  turn  out 
to  our  disadvantage  ;  consequently  this  country  has  but  one 
sensible,  one  great  line  to  follow,  —  the  being  ever  ready  to 
make  peace  when  to  be  obtained  without  submitting  to  terms 
that  in  their  consequence  must  annihilate  this  empire,  and 
with  firmness  to  make  every  effort  to  deserve  success. 

General  Cornwallis  thus  narrates  the  circumstances 
of  his  capitulation  at  Yorktown  in  1781. 

YoRKTowN,  Virginia,  Oct.  20,  1781 
I  have  the  mortification  to  inform  your  Excellency  that  I  68.  Corn- 
have  been  forced  to  give  up  the  posts  of  York  and  Gloucester,  wallis's  own 
and  to  surrender  the  troops  under  my  command,  by  capitula-  surrender  at 
tion,  on  the  19th  instant,  as  prisoners  of  war  to  the  combined  Yorktown 
forces  of  America  and  France.  (1781) 

I  never  saw  this  post  in  a  very  favorable  light,  but  when  I 
found  I  was  to  be  attacked  in  it  in  so  unprepared  a  state,  by 
so  powerful  an  army  and  artillery,  nothing  but  the  hopes  of 
relief  would  have  induced  me  to  attempt  its  defense,  for  I 
would  either  have  endeavored  to  escape  to  New  York  by  rapid 
marches  from  the  Gloucester  side,  immediately  on  the  arrival 
of  General  Washington's  troops  at  Williamsburg,  or  I  would, 
notwithstanding  the  disparity  of  numbers,  have  attacked  them 
in  the  open  field,  where  it  might  have  been  just  possible  that 
fortune  would  have  favored  the  gallantry  of  the  handful  of 
troops  under  my  command  ;  but  being  assured  by  your  Excel- 
lency's letters  that  every  possible  means  would  be  tried  by  the 
navy  and  army  to  relieve  us,  I  could  not  think  myself  at  liberty 
to  venture  upon  either  of  those  desperate  attempts  ;  therefore, 
after  remaining  for  two  days  in  a  strong  position  in  front  of 
this  place  in  hopes  of  being  attacked,  upon  observing  that  the 
enemy  were  taking  measures  which  could  not  fail  of  turning 
my  left  flank  in  a  short  time,  and  receiving  on  the  second  Delay  in 
evening  your  letter  of  the  24th  of  September,  informing  me  relief  for 
that  the  relief  would  sail  about  the  5  th  of  October,  I  withdrew 
within  the  works  on  the  night  of  the  29th  of  September,  hoping 


136  Readijigs  in  Modern  European  History 

by  the  labor  and  firmness  of  the  soldiers  to  protract  the 
defense  until  you  could  arrive.  Everything  was  to  be  expected 
from  the  spirit  of  the  troops,  but  every  disadvantage  attended 
their  labor,  as  the  works  were  to  be  continued  under  the 
enemy's  fire,  and  our  stock  of  intrenching  tools,  which  did  not 
much  exceed  400  when  we  began  to  work  iit  the  latter  end  of 
August,  was  now  much  diminished.  .  .  . 
Frail  char-  Our  works,  in  the  meantime,  were  going  to  ruin,  and  not 

acter  of  Eng-  having  been  able  to  strengthen  them  by  an  abattis,  nor  in  any 

hsh  defenses         ,       °  ^         ,  ,.,...  ,  •   ,      ,  ,  ., 

Other  manner  but  by  a  slight  fraizmg,  which  the  enemy  s  artil- 
lery were  demolishing  wherever  they  fired,  my  opinion  entirely 
coincided  with  that  of  the  engineer  and  principal  officers  of 
the  army,  that  they  were  in  many  places  assailable  in  the  fore- 
noon, and  that  by  the  continuance  of  the  same  fire  for  a  few 
hours  longer  they  would  be  in  such  a  state  as  to  render  it 
desperate,  with  our  numbers,  to  attempt  to  maintain  them. 
We  at  that  time  could  not  fire  a  single  gun ;  only  one  eight- 
inch  and  little  more  than  one  hundred  Cohorn  shells  remained. 
A  diversion  by  the  French  ships  of  war  that  lay  at  the  mouth 
of  York  River  was  to  be  expected. 
Capitulation  Our  numbers  had  been  diminished  by  the  enemy's  fire,  but 
to  save  wan-  particularly  by  sickness,  and  the  strength  and  spirits  of  those 
of  soldiers  ^^  ^^^  works  were  much  exhausted  by  the  fatigue  of  constant 
watching  and  unremitting  duty.  Under  all  these  circumstances, 
I  thought  it  would  have  been  wanton  and  inhuman  to  the  last 
degree  to  sacrifice  the  lives  of  this  small  body  of  gallant  sol- 
diers, who  had  ever  behaved  with  so  much  fidelity  and  courage, 
by  exposing  them  to  an  assault  which,  from  the  numbers  and 
precautions  of  the  enemy,  could  not  fail  to  succeed.  I  there- 
fore proposed  to  capitulate ;  and  I  have  the  honor  to  inclose 
to  your  Excellency  the  copy  of  the  correspondence  between 
General  Washington  and  me  on  that  subject,  and  the  terms  of 
capitulation  agreed  upon.  I  sincerely  lament  that  better  could 
not  be  obtained,  but  I  have  neglected  nothing  in  my  power  to 
alleviate  the  misfortune  and  distress  of  both  officers  and  sol- 
diers. The  men  are  well  clothed  and  provided  with  necessaries, 
and  I  trust  will  be  regularly  supplied  by  the  means  of  the 
officers  that  are  permitted  to  remain  with  them. 


Rivalry  of  FrafKe  and  England  hi  North  America     1 37 

The  treatment,  in  general,  that  we  have  received  from  the  A  tribute  to 
enemy  since  our  surrender  has  been  perfectly  good  and  proper,  *^'-  generous 
but  the  kindness  and  attention  that  has  been  shown  to  us  by  officers 
the  French  officers  in  particular  —  their  delicate  sensibility  of 
our   situation,  their   generous   and   pressing  offer   of    money, 
both   public   and   private,  to  any  amount  —  has   really  gone 
beyond  what  I  can  possibly  describe,  and  will,  I  hope,  make 
an  impression  on  the  breast  of  every  British  officer,  whenever 
the  fortune  of  war  should  put  any  of  them  into  our  power. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE  OLD  REGIME  IN  EUROPE 

Sectioji  22.    Co7idition  of  the  Country  People  :   Serfdom 

An  English  traveler,  Arthur  Young,  as  he  was  mak- 
ing his  way  across  France  in  1789,  carefully  observed 
the  peasants  with  whom  he  often  talked.  He  reports 
the  following  interview  with  a  poor  woman  he  met. 

69.  Arthur  Walking  up  a  long  hill  to  ease  my  mare,  I  was  joined  by  a 

Young's  poor  woman,  who  complained  of  the  times,  and  that  it  was  a 

conversation    ^,  '^  1.,  ,  -1,111 

with  a  sad  country.     Demandmg  her  reasons,  she  said  her  husband 

French  peas-  had  but  a  morsel  of  land,  one  cow,  and  a  poor  little  horse, 
woman  ^^^^  ^^^  ^^^  ^  franchar  (forty-two  pounds)  of  wheat  and  three 
chickens  to  pay  as  a  quitrent  to  one  seigneur  ;  and  four  fran- 
char of  oats,  one  chicken,  and  one  franc  to  pay  to  another, 
besides  very  heavy  tailles  and  other  taxes.  She  had  seven 
children,  and  the  cow's  milk  helped  to  make  the  soup.  "  But 
why,  instead  of  a  horse,  do  not  you  keep  another  cow  ?  "  Oh, 
her  husband  could  not  carry  his  produce  so  well  without  a 
horse;  and  asses  are  little  used  in  the  country.  It  was  said, 
at  present,  that  something  was  to  be  done  by  some  great  folks 
for  such  poor  ones,  but  she  did  not  know  who  nor  how,  but 
God  send  us  better,  ear  les  tailles  et  les  droits  nous  eerasent 
(for  the  taxes  and  feudal  rights  are  crushing  us). 

This  woman,  at  no  great  distance,  might  have  been  taken 
for  sixty  or  seventy,  her  figure  was  so  bent  and  her  face  so 
furrowed  and  hardened  by  labor,  but  she  said  she  was  only 
twenty-eight.  An  Englishman  who  has  not  traveled  cannot 
imagine  the  figure  made  by  infinitely  the  greater  part  of  the 
country  women  in  France  ;  it  speaks,  at  the  first  sight,  hard 
and   severe   labor.     I   am   inclined    to   think   that   they   work 

138 


TJie  Old  Regime  in  Europe  1 39 

harder  than  the  men,  and  this,  united  with  the  more  miser- 
able labor  of  bringing  a  new  race  of  slaves  into  the  world, 
destroys  absolutely  all  symmetry  of  person  and  every  femi- 
nine appearance. 

The  feudal  dues  formed  an  important  and  complicated 
branch  of  the  law  in  France  in  the  eighteenth  century. 
Consequently  treatises  were  drawn  up  to  serve  as  guides 
for  those  lawyers  who  devoted  themselves  to  this  branch 
of  their  profession.  The  following  Hst  describes  a  very 
few  of  the  most  important  of  the  dues  which  prevailed 
in  various  parts  of  the  country. 

The  Cens.    This  was  a  perpetual  due,  paid  either  in  money  70.  A  few  of 
or  kind,  which  the  holders  of  certain  lands  were  forced,  accord-  ^^^  "^o^t 
ing  to  feudal  law,  to  pay  the  lord.    The  entire  amount  could  feudal  dues 
be  demanded  from  any  one  of  those  who  held  any  part  of  the  in  France  in 
land  originally  subject  to  the  cens.    The  due  was  irredeemable,  the  eight- 
that  is  to  say,  there  was  no  possibility  of  commuting  it  or  get-  century 
ting  rid  of  it  by  any  arrangement  with  the  lord. 

Lods  et  Vefifes.  It  was  a  general  rule  in  those  parts  of  France 
where  the  customary  law  prevailed  that  any  one  holding  land 
subject  to  the  ce7is  must,  should  he  sell  his  property,  pay  his 
lord  a  portion  of  the  price  he  received.  The  amount  varied, 
but  frequently  was  fixed  at  one  sixth. 

Terrage  or  Cha7npa7't.  This  consisted  of  a  certain  portion 
of  the  produce  of  the  land  which  the  lord  could  demand  from 
those  subject  to  the  cens.  Lands  subject  to  terrage  could  not 
be  mortgaged  without  the  permission  of  the  lord. 

Carpet.  A  fourth  part  of  the  vintage,  exacted  by  the  lords 
in  the  Bourbonnais. 

Corvee.  This  right  of  the  lord  to  require  the  tenants  to  work 
for  him  certain  days  in  the  week  or  put  their  horses  and  carts 
at  his  disposal  had  almost  disappeared  in  France  in  the  eight- 
eenth century,  although  common  in  some  other  parts  of  Europe. 
The  French  government,  however,  required  the  peasants  to 
work  on  the  roads,  and  this  duty  was  known  as  the  corvee. 


140  Readings  i7i  Modern  European  History 

Banalites.  Rights  possessed  by  the  lord  on  many  manors 
to  require  those  residing  within  the  bounds  of  the  manor  to 
grind  their  flour  in  his  mill,  bake  their  bread  in  his  oven,  or 
press  their  grapes  in  his  wine  press  and  pay  him  well  for 
the  service. 

Banvin.  The  right  of  certain  lords  to  sell  their  wine  a 
month  or  forty  days  before  any  one  else  on  the  manor. 

Peages.  According  to  the  feudal  lawyers  there  were  origi- 
nally a  vast  number  of  manorial  tolls  exacted  upon  bridges, 
rivers,  and  roads.  Louis  XIV  did  away  with  a  great  many  of 
them,  and  in  1724  no  less  than  twelve  hundred  more  of  them 
were  suppressed. 

Bacs.  The  right  to  exact  dues  on  merchandise  ferried  across 
streams  within  a  manor. 

Dr-oit  de  Leyde.  A  tax  levied  upon  merchandise  brought 
to  fairs  and  markets.-^ 

The  hunting  rights  so  irritating  to  the  peasants  are 
described  in  the  following  passage  from  Arthur  Young's 
Travels.  He  speaks  particularly  of  the  royal  hunting 
preserves  of  the  king,  the  so-called  capitaiiieries. 

71.  The  The  capitaineries  were  a  dreadful  scourge  on  all  the  occupiers 

hunting  gf  land.  By  this  term  is  to  be  understood  the  paramountship 
FranTe^^^  ^^  ^^  certain  districts  granted  by  the  king  to  princes  of  the  blood, 
(from  by  which  they  were  put  in  possession  of  the  property  of  all 

Arthur  game,  even  on  lands  not  belonging  to  them  ;  and  what  is  very 

Travels)  singular,  on  manors  granted  long  before  to  individuals ;  so  that 
the  erecting  of  a  district  into  a  capitaifierie  was  an  annihilation 
of  all  manorial  rights  to  game  within  it.  This  was  a  trifling 
business  in  comparison  to  other  circumstances ;  for  in  speak- 
ing of  the  preservation  of  the  game  in  these  capitaineries  it 
must  be  observed  that  by  game  must  be  understood  whole 
droves  of  wild  boars,  and  herds  of  deer  not  confined  by  any 

1  This  list  is  based  upon  that  which  de  Tocqueville  gives  in  his 
Ancien  Regime,  p.  452.  He  derived  his  information  from  two  standard 
treatises  by  the  feudal  lawyers  Freminville  and  Renauldon,  who  wrote 
about  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century. 


TJie  Old  Regime  in  Europe  141 

wall  or  pale,  but  wandering  at  pleasure  over  the  whole  country, 
to  the  destruction  of  crops,  and  to  the  peopling  of  the  galleys 
by  wretched  peasants  who  presumed  to  kill  them  in  order  to 
save  that  food  which  was  to  support  their  helpless  children. 

The  game  in  the  capitainei-ie  of  Montceau,  in  four  parishes 
only,  did  mischief  to  the  amount  of  184,263  livres  per  annum. 
No  wonder  then  that  we  should  find  the  people  asking,  "  We 
loudly  demand  the  destruction  of  all  the  capitainei'ies  and  of 
all  the  various  kinds  of  game."  And  what  are  we  to  think  of 
demanding  as  a  favor  the  permission  "  to  thresh  their  grain, 
mow  their  fields,  and  take  away  the  stubble  without  regard 
to  the  partridge  or  other  game"?^  Now  an  English  reader 
will  scarcely  understand  without  being  told  that  there  were 
numerous  edicts  for  preserving  the  game,  which  prohibited 
weeding  and  hoeing  lest  the  young  partridges  should  be  dis- 
turbed, steeping  seed  lest  it  should  injure  the  game,  .  .  . 
mowing  hay,  etc.,  before  a  certain  time  so  late  as  to  spoil 
many  crops ;  and  taking  away  the  stubble  which  would  de- 
prive the  birds  of  shelter. 

Sectio7i  2^.     The  Tozuns  ajid  the  Guilds 

Arthur  Young,  the  EngHsh  traveler  just  quoted, 
gives  us  his  impressions  of  Paris,  which  he  visited  in 
1787. 

This  great  city  [Paris]  appears  to  be  in  many  respects  the  72.  Condition 
most  ineligible  and  inconvenient  for  the  residence  of  a  person  °^  ^®  streets 
of  small  fortune  of  any  that  I  have  seen,  and  vastly  inferior  to  1,787 
London.    The   streets  are  very  narrow,  and   many  of   them 
crowded,  nine  tenths  dirty,  and  all  without  foot  pavements. 
Walking,  which  in  London  is  so  pleasant  and  so  clean  that 
ladies  do  it  every  day,  is  here  a  toil  and  a  fatigue  to  a  man, 
and  an  impossibility  to  a  well-dressed  woman.    The  coaches 
are  numerous,  and,  what  is  much  worse,  there  are  an  infinity 

1  These  complaints  are  from  the  cahiers,  drawn  up  for  the  Estates 
General  in  1789.  See  Development  of  Moderti  Europe  (Vol.  I,  p.  230). 
For  the  abolition  of  the  hunting  rights  see  below,  p.  256. 


142  Readings  in  Modern  European  History 

of  one-horse  cabriolets,  which  are  driven  by  young  men  of 
fashion  and  their  imitators,  alike  fools,  with  such  rapidity  as 
to  be  real  nuisances,  and  render  the  streets  exceedingly  dan- 
gerous, without  an  incessant  caution.  I  saw  a  poor  child  run 
over  and  probably  killed,  and  have  been  myself  many  times 
blackened  with  the  mud  of  the  kennels.  This  beggarly  practice, 
of  driving  a  one-horse  booby  hutch  about  the  streets  of  a  great 
capital,  flows  either  from  poverty  or  wretched  and  despicable 
economy ;  nor  is  it  possible  to  speak  of  it  with  too  much 
severity.  If  young  noblemen  at  London  were  to  drive  their 
chaises  in  streets  without  footways,  as  their  brethren  do  at 
Paris,  they  would  speedily  and  justly  get  very  well  threshed 
or  rolled  in  the  kennel.  This  circumstance  renders  Paris  an 
ineligible  residence  for  persons,  particularly  families  that  can- 
not afford  to  keep  a  coach,  —  a  convenience  which  is  as  dear 
as  at  London.  The  fiacres  —  hackney  coaches  —  are  much 
worse  than  at  that  city ;  and  chairs  there  are  none,  for  they 
would  be  driven  down  in  the  streets.  To  this  circumstance 
also  it  is  owing  that  all  persons  of  small  or  moderate  fortune 
are  forced  to  dress  in  black,  with  black  stockings. 

Adam  Smith,  the  Scotch  economist,  thus  describes  in 
his  famous  treatise,  The  Wealth  of  Nations,  published  in 
1776,  the  guilds  and  trade  regulations  of  his  day. 

73.  Adam  In   Sheffield   no   master   cutler   can    have   more   than  one 

Smith  on  the  apprentice   at  a   time    by   a  by-law  of   the   corporation.     In 
h^a^aJ^  Norfolk  and  Norwich  no  master  weaver  can  have  more  than 

two  apprentices  under  pain  of  forfeiting  five  pounds  a  month 
to  the  king.  No  master  hatter  can  have  more  than  two  appren- 
tices anywhere  in  England  or  in  the  English  plantations,  under 
pain  of  forfeiting  five  pounds  a  month,  half  to  the  king  and 
half  to  him  who  shall  sue  in  any  court  of  record.  Both  these 
regulations,  though  they  have  been  confirmed  by  a  public  law 
of  the  kingdom,  are  evidently  dictated  by  the  same  corporation 
spirit  which  enacted  the  by-law  of  Sheffield.  The  silk  weavers 
in  London  had  scarce  been  incorporated  a  year  when  they 
enacted  a  by-law  restraining  any  master  from   having   more 


his  day 


The  Old  Regime  in  Europe  143 

than  two  apprentices  at  a  time.    It  required  a  particular  act 
of  Parliament  to  rescind  this  by-law.  .  .  . 

By  the  5  th  of  Elizabeth,  commonly  called  the  Statute  of  The  Statute 
Apprenticeship,  it  was  enacted  that  no  persons  should  for  the  of  Apprentice- 
future  exercise  any  trade,  craft,  or  mystery  at  the  time  exer- 
cised in  England,  unless  he  had  previously  served  to  it  an 
apprenticeship  of  seven  years  at  least;  and  what  before  had 
been  the  by-law  of  many  particular  corporations  became  in 
England  the  general  public  law  of  all  the  trades  carried  on  in 
market  towns.  For,  though  the  words  of  the  statute  are  very 
general  and  plainly  seem  to  include  the  whole  kingdom,  by 
interpretation  its  operation  has  been  limited  to  market  towns, 
it  having  been  held  that  in  country  villages  a  person  may 
exercise  several  different  trades,  though  he  has  not  served  a 
seven  years'  apprenticeship  to  each,  they  being  necessary  for 
the  conveniency  of  the  inhabitants,  and  the  number  of  people 
frequently  not  being  sufficient  to  supply  each  with  a  particular 
set  of  hands. 

By  a  strict  interpretation  of  the  words,  too,  the  operation  of  Trades 
this  statute  has  been  limited  to  those  trades  which  were  estab-  ^^'^^"^^  ^^^ 
lished  in  England  before  the  5th  of  Elizabeth  and  has  never  si'nJe^Eliza- 
been  extended  to  such  as  have   been  introduced  since  that  beth'stime 
time.    This  limitation  has  given  occasion  to  several  distinc-  "o*  included 

1-1  -11  1  r         1  •  ^"  the  appren 

tions  which,  considered  as  rules  of  police,  appear  as  foolish  as  tke  system 
can  well  be  imagined.  It  has  been  adjudged,  for  example,  that 
a  coach  maker  can  neither  himself  make  nor  employ  journey- 
men to  make  his  coach  wheels,  but  must  buy  them  of  a  master 
wheelwright,  this  latter  trade  having  been  exercised  in  England 
before  the  5th  of  Elizabeth.  But  a  wheelwright,  though  he  has 
never  served  an  apprenticeship  to  a  coach  maker,  may  either 
make  them  himself  or  employ  journeymen  to  make  coaches, 
the  trade  of  a  coach  maker  not  being  within  the  statute  because 
not  exercised  in  England  at  the  time  when  it  was  made.  The 
manufactures  of  Manchester,  Birmingham,  and  Wolverhampton 
are,  many  of  them,  upon  this  account  not  within  the  statute,  not 
having  been  exercised  in  England  before  the  5th  of  Elizabeth. 

In  France  the  duration  of   apprenticeships  is  different  in  Situation  in 
different  towns  and  in  different  trades.    In  Paris  five  years  is  France 


144  Readings  in  Modern  European  History 

the  term  required  in  a  great  number ;  but  before  any  person 
can  be  qualified  to  exercise  the  trade  as  a  master  he  must  in 
many  of  them  serve  five  years  more  as  a  journeyman.    During 
this  latter  term  he  is  called  the  companion  of  his  master  and 
the  term  itself  is  called  his  companionship.  .  .  . 
Adam  Smith's       The  property  which  every  man  has  in  his  own  labor,  as  it  is 
th'^'^'^M^^      the  original  foundation  of  all  other  property,  so  it  is  the  most 
system  sacred  and  inviolable.    The  patrimony  of  a  poor  man  lies  in 

the  strength  and  dexterity  of  his  hands;  and  to  hinder  him 
from  employing  this  strength  and  dexterity  in  vi^hat  manner  he 
thinks  proper  without  injury  to  his  neighbor  is  a  plain  violation 
of  this  most  sacred  property.  It  is  a  manifest  encroachment 
upon  the  just  liberty  both  of  the  workman  and  of  those  who 
might  be  disposed  to  employ  him.  As  it  hinders  the  one  from 
working  at  what  he  thinks  proper,  so  it  hinders  the  others  from 
employing  whom  they  think  proper.  To  judge  whether  he  is 
fit  to  be  employed  may  surely  be  trusted  to  the  discretion  of 
the  employers  whose  interest  it  so  much  concerns.  The  affected 
anxiety  of  the  lawgiver  lest  they  should  employ  an  improper 
person  is  evidently  as  impertinent  as  it  is  oppressive. 
Long  appren-  Long  apprenticeships  are  altogether  unnecessary.  The  arts 
!.^^!!!iLL.,,,  which  are  much  superior  to  common  trades,  such  as  those  of 
making  clocks  and  watches,  contain  no  such  mystery  as  to 
require  a  long  course  of  instruction.  The  first  invention  of 
such  beautiful  machines,  indeed,  and  even  that  of  some  of  the 
instruments  employed  in  making  them,  have  been  the  work  of 
deep  thought  and  long  time,  and  may  justly  be  considered  as 
among  the  happiest  efforts  of  human  ingenuity.  But  when 
both  have  been  fairly  invented  and  are  well  understood,  to 
explain  to  any  young  man  in  the  completest  manner  how  to 
apply  the  instruments  and  how  to  construct  the  machines  can- 
not well  require  more  than  the  lessons  of  a  few  weeks  —  per- 
haps those  of  a  few  days  might  be  sufficient.  In  the  common 
mechanic  trade  those  of  a  few  days  might  certainly  be  sufficient. 
The  dexterity  of  hands  indeed  even  in  common  trades  cannot 
be  acquired  without  much  practice  and  experience.  But  a 
young  man  would  practice  with  much  more  diligence  and 
attention  if  from  the  beginning  he  wrought  as  a  journeyman, 


unnecessary 


TJie  Old  Regime  in  Europe  145 

being  paid  in  proportion  to  the  little  work  which  he  could 
execute  and  paying  in  his  turn  for  the  materials  which  he  might 
sometimes  spoil  through  awkwardness  and  inexperience.  His 
education  would  generally  in  this  way  be  more  effectual  and 
always  less  tedious  and  expensive. 

The  master  indeed  would  be  a  loser.    He  would  lose  all  the  Smith's 
wasres  of  the  apprentice  which  he  now  saves  for  seven  years  J^t^'^^st  m 

,  Til  -i  ,  •,•  -ir  111        lo^^  prices  to 

together.  In  the  end  perhaps  the  apprentice  hnnself  would  be  the  consumer 
the  loser.  In  a  trade  so  easily  learnt  he  would  have  more  com- 
petitors and  his  wages  when  he  came  to  be  a  complete  work- 
man would  be  much  less  than  at  present.  The  same  increase 
in  competition  would  reduce  the  profits  of  the  masters  as  well 
as  the  wages  of  the  workmen.  The  trades,  the  crafts,  the 
mysteries  would  all  be  losers.  But  the  public  would  be  a 
gainer,  the  work  of  all  artificers  coming  in  this  w^ay  much 
cheaper  to  the  market. 

In  1776  the  French  economist,  Turgot,  was  able  as 
controller  general  to  induce  the  king  to  sign  an  edict 
abolishing  the  guilds.  In  the  preamble  to  the  edict 
Turgot  clearly  states  his  attitude  toward  the  guilds. 

In  almost  all  the  towns  the  exercise  of  the  different  arts  74-  Pre- 

and  trades  is  concentrated  in  the  hands  of  a  small  number  of  ^        *° 

Turgot's 
masters,  united  in  corporations,  who  alone  can,  to  the  exclusion  edict  abol- 

of  all  other  citizens,  make  or  sell  the  articles  belonging  to  ishing  the 
their  particular  industry.  Any  person  who,  by  inclination  or  pjance^^ 
necessity,  intends  following  an  art  or  trade  can  only  do  so  by 
acquiring  the  mastership  [i.e.  freedom  of  the  corporation] 
after  a  probation  as  long  and  vexatious  as  it  is  superfluous. 
By  having  to  satisfy  repeated  exactions,  the  money  he  had 
so  much  need  of  in  order  to  start  his  trade  or  open  his  work- 
shop has  been  consumed  in  mere  waste.   .  .  . 

Citizens  of  all  classes  are  deprived  both  of  the  right  to 
choose  the  workmen  they  would  employ,  and  of  the  advan- 
tages they  would  enjoy  from  competition  operating  toward 
improvements  in  manufacture  and  reduction  in  price.  Often 
one  cannot  get  the  simplest  work  done  without  its  having  to 


146  Readings  in  Moderii  European  History 

go  through  the  hands  of  several  workmen  of  different  corpo- 
rations, and  without  enduring  the  delays,  tricks,  and  exactions 
which  the  pretensions  of  the  different  corporations,  and  the 
caprices  of  their  arbitrary  and  mercenary  directors,  demand 
and  encourage. 

Thus  the  effects  of  these  establishments  are,  first,  as  regards 
the  state,  a  vast  tyranny  over  trade  and  industrial  work ;  second, 
as  regards  the  great  body  of  the  people,  a  loss  of  wages  and  the 
means  of  subsistence ;  third,  in  respect  to  the  inhabitants  of 
towns  in  general,  a  slavery  to  exclusive  privileges  equivalent  to 
a  real  monopoly,  —  a  monopoly  of  which  those  who  exercise 
it  against  the  public  are  themselves  the  victims  whenever,  in 
their  turn,  they  have  need  of  the  articles  or  the  work  of  any 
other  corporation.  .  .  . 

Among  the  infinite  number  of  unreasonable  regulations,  we 
find  in  some  corporations  that  all  are  excluded  from  them 
except  the  sons  of  masters,  or  those  who  marry  the  widows  of 
masters.  Others  reject  all  those  whom  they  call  "  strangers," 
—  that  is,  those  born  in  another  town.  In  many  of  them  for 
a  young  man  to  be  married  is  enough  to  exclude  him  from 
the  apprenticeship,  and  consequently  from  the  mastership. 
The  spirit  of  monopoly  which  has  dictated  the  making  of 
these  statutes  has  been  carried  out  to  the  excluding  of  women 
even  from  the  trades  the  most  suitable  to  their  sex,  such  as 
embroidery,  which  they  are  forbidden  to  exercise  on  their  own 
account.  .  .   . 

Section  24.    The  Nobility 

Voltaire  spent  some  time  in  England,  from  1726  10 

1729,  when  still  a  young  man,  and  he  was  struck  by  the 

interesting  contrast  between  the  position  of  the  English 

and  the  French  nobility. 

75.  Voltaire         Since  only  peers  are,  properly  speaking,  noble  in  England, 

position  of       there  would  be  no  such  thing,  in  strictness  of  law,  as  nobility 

the  English     in  that  island,  had  not  the  kings  created  new  barons  from  time 

that^Tth"^**^  to  time,  and  preserved  the  body  of  peers,  once  a  terror  to  them, 

French  to  oppose  them  to  the  Commons,  since  become  so  formidable. 


The  Old  Regime  iji  Europe  i^'j 

Moreover,  these  new  peers  who  compose  the  upper  House 
receive  nothing  but  their  titles  from  the  king,  and  very  few  of 
them  have  estates  in  those  places  whence  they  take  their  titles. 

One  is  duke  of  D ,  though  he  has  not  a  foot  of  land  in 

Dorsetshire  ;  and  another  is  earl  of  a  village,  though  he  scarce 
knows  where  it  is  Situated.  The  peers  have  power,  but  it  is 
only  in  the  Parliament  House. 

There  is  no  such  thing  here  in  England  as  the  power  enjoyed  No  hunting 
by  the  French  lords  to  judge  in  all  matters,  civil  and  criminal ;  "ghts  in 
or  their  right  or  privilege  of  hunting  in  the  grounds  of  a  citi- 
zen, who  at  the  same  time  is  not  permitted  to  fire  a  gun  in  his 
own  field. 

No  one  is  exempted  in  this  country  from  paying  certain 
taxes,  because  he  is  a  nobleman  or  a  priest.  All  imposts  and 
taxes  are  fixed  by  the  House  of  Commons,  whose  power  is 
greater  than  that  of  the  peers,  though  inferior  to  it  in  dignity. 
The  spiritual  as  well  as  temporal  lords  have  the  right  to  reject 
a  money  bill  brought  in  by  the  Commons,  but  they  are  not 
allowed  to  alter  anything  in  it,  and  must  either  pass  or  throw 
it  out  without  amendment.  When  the  bill  has  passed  the  lords 
and  is  signed  by  the  king,  then  the  whole  nation  pays,  every 
man  in  proportion  to  his  revenue  or  estate,  not  according  to 
his  title,  which  would  be  absurd.  There  is  no  such  thing  as  an 
arbitrary  subsidy  or  poll  tax,  but  a  real  tax  on  the  lands,  the 
value  of  which  was  determined  in  the  reign  of  the  famous  King 
William  in. 

The  land  tax  continues  still  upon  the  same  footing,  though  the 
revenue  of  the  lands  is  increased.  Thus  no  one  is  tyrannized 
over,  and  every  one  is  in  comfortable  circumstances.  The  feet 
of  the  peasants  are  not  bruised  by  wooden  shoes  ;  they  eat 
white  bread,  are  well  clothed,  and  are  not  afraid  of  increasing 
their  stock  of  cattle,  nor  of  tiling  their  houses,  from  any  appre- 
hensions that  their  taxes  will  be  raised  the  year  following.  The 
annual  income  of  the  estates  of  a  great  many  commoners  in 
England  amounts  to  no  less  than  two  hundred  thousand  livres ; 
and  yet  these  do  not  think  it  beneath  them  to  plow  the  lands 
to  which  they  owe  their  wealth,  and  on  which  they  enjoy  their 
liberty. 


148  Readings  in  Modern  European  History 


76.  The 
Roman 
Catholic  con- 
ception of 
the  church 
(from  the 
Tridentine 
Catechism) 


Nature  of 
heresy 


Sectio7i  2^.    The  Catholic  Church 

The  Council  of  Trent,  before  it  broke  up  in  1564, 
ordered  a  catechism  to  be  drawn  up  which  should  set 
forth,  under  the  auspices  of  the  head  of  the  Church,  the 
doctrines  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  as  they  should 
be  taught  to  the  faithful.  The  following  passage  from 
this  catechism  deals  with  the  article  of  the  creed,  "  I 
believe  in  the  Holy  CathoUc  Church." 

It  will  not  be  difficult  to  appreciate  the  care  with  which  the 
pastor  should  explain  this  ninth  article  to  the  faithful,  if  we  but 
note  the  following  important  considerations  :  first,  that,  as  St. 
Augustine  observes,  the  prophets  spoke  more  plainly  and  ex- 
plicitly of  the  Church  than  of  Christ,  foreseeing  that  on  this 
point  a  much  greater  number  may  err  and  be  deceived,  than 
in  regard  to  the  mystery  of  the  incarnation.  The  ages  were  to 
behold  wicked  men,  who  —  imitative  as  the  ape,  that  would 
fain  pass  for  one  of  the  human  species  —  arrogate  to  them- 
selves exclusively  the  name  of  ''  Catholic,"  and,  with  effront- 
ery as  unblushing  as  it  is  impious,  assert  that  with  them  alone 
is  to  be  found  the  Catholic  Church. 

Secondly,  that  he  whose  mind  is  once  deeply  impressed  with 
this  truth  will  experience  little  difficulty  in  avoiding  the  awful 
danger  of  heresy ;  for  a  person  is  not  to  be  called  a  heretic  so 
soon  as  he  errs  in  matters  of  faith  :  then  only  is  he  to  be  so 
called,  when,  in  defiance  of  the  authority  of  the  Church,  he 
maintains  impious  opinions  with  unyielding  obstinacy.  .  .   . 

Under  the  word  "  Church "  are  comprehended  no  unim- 
portant mysteries,  for,  in  this  "calling  forth,"  which  the  word 
*'  Ecclesia  "  (church)  signifies,  we  at  once  recognize  the  benignity 
and  splendor  of  divine  grace,  and  understand  that  the  Church 
is  very  unlike  all  other  commonwealths  :  they  rest  on  human 
reason  and  human  prudence  ;  this,  on  the  wisdom  and  councils 
of  God  ;  for  he  called  us  by  the  interior  inspiration  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  who,  through  the  ministry  and  labor  of  his  pastors  and 
preachers,  penetrates  into  the  hearts  of  men.  .  .  . 


The  Old  Regime  in  Europe  1 49 

It  is  essential  to  enumerate  the  several  component  parts 
of  the  Church,  and  point  out  their  difference,  in  order  that 
the  faithful  may  the  better  comprehend  the  nature,  properties, 
gifts,  and  graces  of  the  Church,  the  object  of  God's  special 
predilection;  and  unceasingly  offer  to  the  divine  majesty  the 
homage  of  their  grateful  praise. 

The  Church  consists  principally  of  two  parts,  the  one  called  Distinction 
the  Church  triumphant,  the  other  the  Church  militant.    The  ^t^^^cTtH-^ 
Church  triumphant  is  that  most  glorious  and  happy  assemblage  umphant  and 
of  blessed  spirits,  and  of  those  souls  who  have  triumphed  over  the  Church 
the  world,  the  flesh,  and  the  devil,  and  now,  exempt  from  the  "^^  ^  ^" 
troubles  of  this  life,  are  blessed  with  the  fruition  of  everlasting 
bliss.    The  Church  militant  is  the  society  of  all  the  faithful 
still  dwelling  on  earth,  and  is  called  militant  because  it  wages 
eternal  war  with  those  implacable  enemies,  the  world,  the  flesh, 
and  the  devil.   We  are  not,  however,  to  infer  that  there  are  two 
Churches  :  they  are  two  constituent  parts  of  one  Church  ;  one 
part  gone  before,  and  now  in  possession  of  its  heavenly  country ; 
the  other,  following  every  day,  until,  at  length,  united  to  its 
invisible  head,  it  shall  repose  in  the  fruition  of  endless  felicity. 

The  Church  militant  is  composed  of  two  classes  of  persons.  The  Church 
the  good  and  the  bad,  both  professing  the  same  faith  and  par-  militant 
taking  of  the  same  sacraments ;  yet  differing  in  their  manner  the  good  and 
of  life  and  morality.    The  good  are  those  who  are  linked  to-  the  evil 
gether  not  only  by  the  profession  of  the  same  faith  and  the 
participation  in  the  same  sacraments,  but  also  by  the  spirit 
of  grace,  and  the  bond  of  charity  :   of  whom  St.  Paul  says, 
''The  Lord  knoweth  who  are  his."    Who  they  are  that  com- 
pose this  class  we,  also,  may  remotely  conjecture  ;  pronounce 
with  certainty  we   cannot.   .  .   .    But,  although   the  Catholic 
faith  uniformly  and  truly  teaches  that  the  good  and  the  bad 
belong  to  the  Church,  yet  the  same  faith  declares  that  the 
condition  of  both  is  very  different :   the  wicked  are  contained 
in  the  Church,  as  the  chaff  is  mingled  with  the  grain  on  the 
threshing    floor,   or    as    dead    members,    sometimes,    remain 
attached  to  a  living  body. 

There  are  but  three  classes  of  persons  excluded  from  the 
pale  of  the  Church,  —  infidels,  heretics  and  schismatics,  and 


150  Readings  in  Modern  European  History 

Three  classes   excommunicated  persons  ;  infidels,  because  they  never  belonged 
excluded  from  ^^  ^^^  never  knew  the  Church,  and  were  never   made  par- 

the  Church  ,  .  .     ,  ,  ,  i         1  •  • 

takers  of  any  or  her  sacraments ;  heretics  and  schismatics, 
because  they  have  separated  themselves  from  the  Church,  and 
belong  to  her  only  as  deserters  belong  to  the  army  from 
which  they  have  deserted.  It  is  not,  however,  to  be  denied, 
that  they  are  still  subject  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Church, 
inasmuch  as  they  are  liable  to  have  judgment  passed  on 
their  opinions,  to  be  visited  with  spiritual  punishments  and 
denounced  with  anathema.  Finally,  excommunicated  persons, 
because  excluded  by  her  sentence  from  the  number  of  her 
children,  belong  not  to  her  communion  until  restored  by 
repentance.  But  with  regard  to  the  rest ;  however  wicked  and 
flagitious,  it  is  certain  that  they  still  belong  to  the  Church  ; 
and  of  this  the  faithful  are  frequently  to  be  reminded,  in  order 
to  be  convinced  that,  were  the  lives  even  of  her  ministers 
debased  by  crime,  they  are  still  within  her  pale,  and,  there- 
fore, lose  no  part  of  the  power  with  which  her  ministry 
invests  them.  .  .  . 
The  unity  of  The  distinctive  marks  of  this  Church  are  also  to  be  made 
the  Church     ^nown  to  the  faithful,  that  thus  they  may  be  enabled  to  esti- 

under  Peter's  ,  riii-  rii^^i  ^ 

successor  the  ^late  the  extent  01  the  blessing  conferred  by  God  on  those 

Pope  who  have  had  the  happiness  to  be  born  and  educated  within 

her  pale.    The  first  mark  of  the  true  Church  is  described  in 

the  Creed  of  the  Fathers,  and  consists  in  unity  :   "  My  dove  is 

one,  my  beautiful  one  is  one."    So  vast  a  multitude,  scattered 

far  and  wide,  is  called  one,  for  the  reasons  mentioned  by  St. 

Paul  in  his  epistle  to  the  Ephesians  :   "  One  Lord,  one  faith, 

one  baptism."    This  Church  has,  also,  but  one  ruler  and  one 

governor,  the  invisible  one,  Christ,  whom  the  Eternal  Father 

"  hath  made  head  over  all  the  Church,  which  is  his  body  "  ; 

the  visible  one,  him,  who,  as  legitimate  successor  of  Peter  the 

prince  of  Apostles,  fills  the  apostolic  chair. 

Early  testi-  That  this  visible  head  is  necessary  to  establish  and  preserve 

mony support-  unity  in  the  Church  is  the  unanimous  accord  of  the  Fathers; 

ing  the  Pope's 

claim  to  su-      ^i^d  on  this,  the  sentiments  of  St.  Jerome,  in  his  work  against 

premacy  Jovinian,  are  as  clearly  conceived  as  they  are  happily  expressed  : 

"  One,"  says  he,  "  is  chosen,  so  that,  by  the  appointment  of  a 


TJie  Old  Regime  in  Ein'ope  1 5  i 

head,  all  occasion  of  schism  may  be  removed  "  ;  and  to  Da- 
masus :  "  Let  envy  cease,  let  the  pride  of  Roman  ambition  be 
humbled  :  I  speak  to  the  successor  of  the  fisherman,  and  to 
the  disciple  of  the  cross.  Following  no  chief  but  Christ,  I  am 
united  in  communion  with  your  Holiness,  that  is,  with  the 
chair  of  Peter.  I  know  that  on  that  rock  is  built  the  Church. 
Whoever  will  eat  the  lamb  outside  this  house  is  profane  :  who- 
ever is  not  in  the  ark  of  Noah  shall  perish  in  the  flood."  The 
same  doctrine  was,  long  before,  established  by  Saints  Irenaeus 
and  Cyprian  :  the  latter,  speaking  of  the  unity  of  the  Church, 
observes :  "  The  Lord  said  to  Peter, '  I  say  to  thee,  Peter,  thou 
art  Peter  ;  and  upon  this  rock  I  will  build  my  Church  '  :  he 
builds  his  Church  on  one  ;  and  although,  after  his  resurrection, 
he  gave  equal  power  to  all  his  Apostles,  saying, '  As  the  Father 
hath  sent  me,  I  also  send  you.  Receive  ye  the  Holy  Ghost ' ; 
yet,  to  display  unity,  he  disposed,  by  his  own  authority,  the 
origin  of  this  unity,  which  had  its  beginning  with  one,  etc." 
Again,  Optatus  of  Milevis  says  :  ''  It  cannot  be  ascribed  to 
ignorance  on  your  part,  knowing,  as  you  do,  that  the  episcopal 
chair,  in  which  Peter,  as  head  of  all  the  Apostles,  sat,  was, 
originally  fixed  by  him  in  the  city  of  Rome,  that  in  him  alone 
may  be  preserved  the  unity  of  the  Church ;  and  that  the  other 
Apostles  may  not  claim  each  a  chair  for  himself ;  so  that,  now, 
he  who  erects  another,  in  opposition  to  this  single  chair,  is  a 
schismatic  and  a  liar." 

In  the  next  place,  St.  Basil  has  these  words  :  ''  Peter  is  made 
the  foundation,  because  he  says,  '  Thou  art  Christ,  the  Son  of 
the  living  God,'  and  hears  in  reply  that  he  is  a  rock ;  but 
although  a  rock,  he  is  not  such  a  rock  as  Christ,  for  in  himself 
Christ  is,  truly,  an  immovable  rock,  but  Peter,  only  by  virtue 
of  that  rock ;  for  God  bestows  his  dignities  on  others  :  he  is 
a  priest,  and  he  makes  priests ;  a  rock,  and  he  makes  a  rock  : 
what  belongs  to  himself,  he  bestows  on  his  servants."  Lastly, 
St.  Ambrose  says  :  "  Should  any  one  object,  that  the  Church  is 
content  with  one  head  and  one  spouse,  Jesus  Christ,  and 
requires  no  other,  the  answer  is  obvious ;  for,  as  we  deem 
Christ  not  only  the  author  of  all  the  Sacraments,  but  also 
their   invisible   minister  (he  it  is  who  baptizes,  he  it  is  who 


152  Readings  in  Modern  Eiii^opean  History 

absolves,  although  men  are  appointed  by  him  the  external 
ministers  of  the  sacraments),  so  has  he  placed  over  his  Church, 
which  he  governs  by  his  invisible  spirit,  a  man  to  be  his  vicar, 
and  the  minister  of  his  power :  a  visible  Church  requires  a 
visible  head,  and,  therefore,  does  the  Savior  appoint  Peter 
head  and  pastor  of  all  the  faithful,  when,  in  the  most  ample 
terms,  he  commits  to  his  care  the  feeding  of  all  his  sheep; 
desiring  that  he  who  was  to  succeed  him  should  be  invested 
with  the  very  same  power  of  ruling  and  governing  the  entire 
Church.".   .   . 


Section  26.     The  Jesnits  and  Ultramontanism 

Macaulay  gives  the  following  estimate  of  the  work  of 
the  Jesuit  Order  in  his  well-known  History  of  Englattd. 


77 


Macau- 


Jesuits 


When  the  Jesuits  came  to  the  rescue,  they  found  the  Papacy 
lay's  descrip-  -j^  extreme  peril :  but  from  that  moment  the  tide  of  battle 
tion  of  the  .  ,  •   1    1      i      i      • 

turned.    Protestantism,  which  had,  durmg  a  whole  generation, 

carried  all  before  it,  was  stopped  in  its  progress  and  rapidly 
beaten  back  from  the  foot  of  the  Alps  to  the  shores  of  the 
Baltic.  Before  the  Order  had  existed  a  hundred  years,  it  had 
filled  the  whole  world  with  memorials  of  great  things  done  and 
suffered  for  the  faith.  No  religious  community  could  produce 
a  list  of  men  so  variously  distinguished  :  none  had  extended 
its  operations  over  so  vast  a  space  :  yet  in  none  had  there  been 
such  perfect  unity  of  feeling  and  action.  There  was  no  region 
of  the  globe,  no  walk  of  speculative  or  of  active  life  in  which 
Jesuits  were  not  to  be  found. 

They  guided  the  counsels  of  kings.  They  deciphered  Latin 
inscriptions.  They  observed  the  motion  of  Jupiter's  satellites. 
They  published  whole  libraries, — controversy,  casuistry,  history, 
treatises  on  optics,  Alcaic  codes,  editions  of  the  fathers,  mad- 
rigals, catechisms,  and  lampoons.  The  liberal  education  of 
youth  passed  almost  entirely  into  their  hands  and  was  con- 
ducted by  them  with  conspicuous  ability.  They  appear  to  have 
discovered  the  precise  point  to  which  intellectual  culture  can 
be  carried  without  risk  of  intellectual  emancipation.  Enmity 
itself  was  compelled  to  own  that  in  the  art  of  managing  and 


The  varied 
character  of 
Jesuit  labors 


The  Old  Regime  in  Europe  153 

forming  the  tender  mind  they  had  no  equals.  Meanwhile  they 
assiduously  and  successfully  cultivated  the  eloquence  of  the 
pulpit.  With  still  greater  assiduity  and  still  greater  success 
they  applied  themselves  to  the  ministry  of  the  confessional. 
Throughout  Roman  Catholic  Europe  the  secrets  of  every  gov- 
ernment and  of  almost  every  family  of  note  were  in  their  keep- 
ing. They  glided  from  one  Protestant  country  to  another 
under  innumerable  guises,  as  gay  cavaliers,  as  simple  rustics, 
as  Puritan  preachers.  They  wandered  to  countries  which 
neither  mercantile  avidity  nor  liberal  curiosity  had  ever  im- 
pelled any  stranger  to  explore.  They  were  to  be  found  in  the 
garb  o:*^  mandarins,  superintending  the  observatory  at  Pekin. 
They  were  to  be  found,  spade  in  hand,  teaching  the  rudiments 
of  agriculture  to  the  savages  of  Paraguay.  Yet,  whatever  might 
be  their  residence,  whatever  might  be  their  employment,  their 
spirit  was  the  same,  —  entire  devotion  to  the  common  cause, 
unreasoning  obedience  to  the  central  authority. 

None  of  them  had  chosen  his  dwelling  place  or  his  vocation  The  Jesuit's 
for  himself.  Whether  a  Jesuit  should  live  under  the  Arctic  cir-  Jfy^lty  *»  ^"s 
cle  or  under  the  equator,  whether  he  should  pass  his  life  in 
arranging  gems  and  collating  manuscripts  at  the  Vatican  or  in 
persuading  naked  barbarians  under  the  Southern  Cross  not  to 
eat  each  other,  were  matters  which  he  left  with  profound  sub- 
mission to  the  decision  of  others.  If  he  was  wanted  at  Lima, 
he  was  on  the  Atlantic  in  the  next  fleet.  If  he  was  wanted  at 
Bagdad,  he  was  toiling  through  the  desert  with  the  next  cara- 
van. If  his  ministry  was  needed  in  some  country  where  his 
life  was  more  insecure  than  that  of  a  wolf,  where  the  heads 
and  quarters  of  his  brethren,  fixed  in  public  places,  showed 
him  what  he  had  to  expect,  he  went  without  remonstrance  or 
hesitation  to  his  doom.  Nor  is  this  heroic  spirit  yet  extinct. 
When  in  our  own  time,  a  new  and  terrible  pestilence  passed 
around  the  globe,  when,  in  some  great  cities,  fear  had  dissolved 
all  the  ties  which  hold  society  together,  when  the  secular  clergy 
had  forsaken  their  flocks,  when  medical  succor  was  not  to  be 
purchased  by  gold,  when  the  strongest  natural  affections  had 
yielded  to  the  love  of  life,  even  then  the  Jesuit  was  found  by  the 
pallet  which  bishop  and  curate,  physician  and  nurse,  father  and 


154  Readings  in  Modern  European  History 

mother  had  deserted,  bending  over  infected  lips  to  catch  the 
faint  accents  of  confession  and  holding  up  to  the  last  before 
the  expiring  penitent  the  image  of  the  expiring  Redeemer. 
Dark  side  But  with  the  admirable  energy,  disinterestedness,  and  self- 

of  the  picture  ^evotion  which  were  characteristic  of  the  society,  great  vices 
were  mingled.  It  was  alleged,  and  not  without  foundation,  that 
the  ardent  public  spirit  which  made  the  Jesuit  regardless  of  his 
ease,  of  his  liberty,  and  of  his  life,  made  him  also  regardless  of 
truth  and  mercy ;  that  no  means  which  could  promote  the 
interest  of  his  religion  seemed  to  him  unlawful ;  and  that  by  the 
interest  of  his  religion  he  too  often  meant  the  interest  of  his 
Society.  It  was  alleged  that  in  the  most  atrocious  plots  recorded 
in  history  his  agency  could  be  distinctly  traced  ;  that,  constant 
only  in  attachment  to  the  fraternity  to  which  he  belonged,  he 
was  in  some  countries  the  most  dangerous  enemy  of  freedom, 
and  in  others  the  most  dangerous  enemy  of  order.  The  mighty 
victories  which  he  boasted  that  he  had  achieved  in  the  cause 
of  the  Church  were,  in  the  judgment  of  many  of  the  illustrious 
members  of  that  Church,  rather  apparent  than  real.  .  .  . 

So  strangely  were  good  and  evil  intermixed  in  the  character 
of  these  celebrated  brethren  ;  and  the  intermixture  was  the 
secret  of  their  gigantic  power.  That  power  could  never  have 
belonged  to  mere  hypocrites.  It  never  could  have  belonged  to 
rigid  moralists.  It  was  to  be  attained  only  by  men  sincerely 
enthusiastic  in  the  pursuit  of  a  great  end,  and  at  the  same  time 
unscrupulous  as  to  the  choice  of  means. 

A  French  Jesuit,  who  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Iro- 
quois Indians  in  1644,  sends  the  following  terrible 
account  of  his  sufferings  to  the  head  of  his  Order 
in  Europe. 

Our  Reverend  Father  in  Christ.    Pax  Christi : 
78.  Suffer-  I  know  not  whether  your  paternity  will  recognize  the  letter 

ings  endured  ^f  ^  p^Qj.  cripple,  who  formerly,  when  in  perfect  health,  was 
missionary  in  ^^^^  known  to  you.  The  letter  is  badly  written  and  quite  soiled 
Canada  because,  in  addition  to  other  inconveniences,  he  who  writes  it 

(1644)  j^^g  Qj^ly  Qj^g  whole  finger  on  his  right  hand  ;  and  it  is  difficult 


TJie  Old  Regime  hi  Europe  1 5  5 

to  avoid  staining  the  paper  with  the  blood  which  flows  from 
his  wounds,  not  yet  healed  :  he  uses  arquebus  powder  for  ink 
and  the  earth  for  a  table.  He  writes  it  from  the  country  of 
the  Iroquois  where  at  present  he  happens  to  be  a  captive,  and 
desires  herewith  to  give  you  a  brief  report  of  that  which  the 
Divine  Providence  has  at  last  ordained  for  him. 

I  started  from  Three  Rivers  by  order  of  the  Superior  on  the 
27  th  of  last  April,  —  in  company  with  six  Christian  barbarians 
and  a  young  Frenchman,  with  three  canoes,  —  to  go  to  the 
country  of  the  Hurons.  .   .  . 

The  third  day,  when  not  distant  more  than  twenty  or  twenty-  Captured  by 
four  miles  from  Three  Rivers,  and  seven  or  eight  from  the  *^^  Iroquois 
fortress  of  Richelieu,  we  were  taken  captive  by  twenty-seven 
Iroquois  who,  having  killed  one  of  our  barbarians,  captured 
the  others  and  me  with  them.  We  might  have  fled  or  indeed 
killed  some  Iroquois ;  but  I,  for  my  part,  on  seeing  my  com- 
panions taken,  judged  it  better  to  remain  with  them  —  accept- 
ing as  a  sign  of  the  will  of  God  the  inclination  and  almost 
resolution  of  those  who  conducted  me,  who  chose  rather  to 
surrender  than  to  escape  by  flight.  Those  who  had  captured  us 
made  horrible  cries,  Siciit  exultant  victores  capta  praeda ;  and 
gave  many  thanks  to  the  Sun  for  having  in  their  hands,  among 
the  others,  a  "black  robe,"  — as  they  call  the  Jesuits. 

I  will  not  write  here  what  I  suffered  on  that  journey;  enough  Terrible 
to  know  that  we  marched,  carrying  burdens,  in  the  woods,  f^^^j^^^"^,^}^  °^ 
where  there  is  no  road  at  all,  but  only  stones,  or  young  shoots, 
or  ditches,  or  water,  or  snow,  —  which  was  not  yet  everywhere 
melted.  We  traveled  without  shoes  ;  fasting  sometimes  till 
three  and  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  and  often  whole  days ; 
exposed  to  the  rain,  and  soaked  in  the  water  of  the  torrents 
and  rivers  which  we  had  to  cross.  At  evening  my  office  was 
to  gather  the  wood,  carry  the  water,  and  do  the  cooking,  when 
there  was  any  ;  and  if  I  came  short  in  anything,  or  did  not 
understand  well,  the  blows  were  not  lacking,  —  and  much  less 
did  these  fail  when  we  happened  to  meet  people  who  were 
going  either  fishing  or  hunting ;  besides,  I  was  hardly  able  to 
rest  at  night  for  being  bound  to  a  tree  and  exposed  to  the 
severity  of  the  air,  which  was  still  quite  cold.   We  finally  reached 


156  Readings  in  Modern  European  History 

their  lake,  on  which  —  when  they  had  made  other  canoes,  at 
which  it  was  necessary  for  me  to  assist  them  —  we  sailed  five 
or  six  days,  after  which  we  landed,  and  there  we  made  three 
days'  journey  on  foot. 
Cruel  treat-  On  the  fourth  day,  which  was  the  15th  of  May,  about  the 

menton  twentieth  hour,  being  still  fasting,  we  arrived  at  a  river  where 

arrival  at  the  . 

Indian  village  about  four  hundred  Barbarians  were  assembled  for  fishing  ;  being 
already  apprised  of  our  arrival,  they  then  came  to  meet  us.  At 
about  two  hundred  paces  from  their  cabins,  they  stripped  me 
naked,  and  made  me  go  first ;  on  either  side,  the  young  men 
of  the  country  stood  in  line,  every  one  with  his  stick  in  hand, 
but  the  first  of  them  had,  instead  of  the  stick,  a  knife.  Then,  as 
I  began  to  proceed,  this  one  suddenly  stopped  me ;  and,  having 
taken  my  left  hand,  with  the  knife  which  he  held  he  made  in 
it  an  incision  between  the  little  finger  and  the  ring  finger,  with 
so  much  force  and  violence  that  I  believed  he  would  split  my 
whole  hand ;  and  the  others  began  to  load  me  with  blows  as 
far  as  the  stage  prepared  for  our  torment. 

Then  they  made  me  mount  upon  some  great  pieces  of  bark, 
about  nine  palms  above  the  ground,  in  order  that  we  might 
be  seen  and  mocked  by  the  people.  I  was  now  bruised  all  over, 
and  covered  with  blood,  which  was  flowing  from  all  parts  of  my 
body,  and  exposed  to  a  very  cold  wind,  which  made  it  sud- 
denly congeal  over  the  skin ;  but  I  greatly  consoled  myself  to 
see  that  God  granted  me  the  favor  of  suffering  in  this  world 
some  little  pain  in  place  of  that  which  I  was  under  obligation, 
because  of  my  sins,  to  pay  in  the  other  with  torments  incom- 
parably greater. 

Meanwhile  the  warriors  arrived,  and  were  magnificently 
received  by  the  people  of  this  village ;  and,  when  they  were 
refreshed  with  the  best  that  they  had  from  their  fishing,  they 
commanded  us  to  sing ;  it  may  be  imagined  how  we  could  do 
so,  fasting,  weak  from  the  journey,  overwhelmed  with  blows, 
and  trembling  with  cold  from  head  to  foot.  .  .  . 

They  made  me  walk  around  the  fire,  w^here  they  had  fixed 
in  the  earth  sharp  sticks  between  the  burning  ashes ;  some 
tore  out  my  hair,  others  my  beard  ;  and  every  night,  after 
having  made  me  sing,  and  tormented  me  as  above,  they  would 


The  Old  Regime  hi  Emvpe  157 

burn  one  of  my  nails  or  fingers  for  the  space  of  eight  or  ten 
minutes ;  of  ten  that  I  had,  I  have  now  only  one  whole  one 
left,  — and  even  from  this  one  they  have  torn  out  the  nail  with 
their  teeth.  One  evening  they  burned  one  of  my  nails;  on 
another,  the  first  joint  or  section  of  a  finger  ;  on  the  next,  the 
second.  In  six  times  they  burned  nearly  six  of  my  fingers  —  and 
more  than  eighteen  times  they  applied  the  fire  and  iron  to  my 
hands  alone  ;  and  meanwhile  it  was  necessary  to  sing.  Thus 
they  treated  us  till  one  or  two  hours  after  midnight,  and  then 
they  left  me  on  the  bare  ground,  usually  tied  to  the  spot,  and 
exposed  to  the  rain,  without  other  bed  or  cover  than  a  small 
skin,  which  covered  not  the  half  of  my  body,  —  even  at  times 
without  anything.  .   .   . 

We  finally  arrived  at  the  first  village  of  that  nation,  where 
our  entrance  was  similar  to  the  former,  and  still  more  cruel,  be- 
cause—  in  addition  to  the  blows  with  their  fists,  and  other  blows 
which  they  gave  me  on  the  most  sensitive  parts  of  the  body  — 
they  split,  for  the  second  time,  my  left  hand  between  the  middle 
finger  and  the  forefinger ;  and  I  received  beatings  in  so  great 
number  that  they  made  me  fall  to  the  ground,  half  dead.  .  .   . 

Surfeited  with  tormenting  us  here,  they  sent  us  to  another 
village,  nine  or  ten  miles  distant,  where,  besides  the  other 
torments,  already  mentioned,  they  suspended  me  by  the  feet, 
sometimes  with  cords,  again  with  chains,  which  they  had  taken 
from  the  Dutch  ;  with  these,  at  night,  they  left  me  bound  — 
hands,  feet,  and  neck  —  to  several  stakes,  as  usual,  upon  the 
bare  ground.  .   .   . 

I  live  here  among  the  shadows  of  death,  not  hearing  any-  Hopes  for 
thing  spoken  of  but  murders  and  assassinations.  They  have  freedom 
recently  slain  in  a  cabin  one  of  their  own  nation,  as  being  use- 
less, and  as  one  who  did  not  deserve  to  live.  Of  course,  I 
suffer  somewhat  here ;  my  wounds  are  not  yet  healed  over, 
and  many  do  not  regard  me  with  a  favorable  eye.  One  cannot 
live  without  crosses,  and  this  one  is  of  sugar  in  comparison 
with  the  past  one.  The  Dutch  cause  me  to  hope  for  my  ransom, 
and  that  of  the  lad  who  was  taken  with  me ;  the  will  of  God 
be  done,  in  time  and  in  Eternity.  I  shall  hope  for  it  with 
greater  reason  if  you  will  make  me  a  partaker  of  your  Holy 


158  Readings  iii  Modern  European  History 


79.  Bull  of 
Clement  XFV 
for  the 
effectual 
abolition  of 
the  Order  of 
Jesus  (1773) 


Origin  and 
purpose  of 
the  Order 


sacrifices  and  prayers,  and  of  those  of  our  Fathers  and  brethren, 
—  especially  of  those  who  were  formerly  acquainted  with  me. 
From  the  Iroquois,  the  15th  of  July,  1644. 

In  1773  Pope  Clement  XIV  reluctantly  determined 
to  issue  a  bull  suppressing  the  Jesuit  Order.  After  speak- 
ing of  the  great  good  that  the  various  religious  orders 
had  accomplished,  and  then  citing  a  number  of  instances 
in  which  preceding  Popes  had  reformed  or  even  abolished 
orders  that  had  degenerated,  he  proceeds  : 

We,  therefore,  having  before  our  eyes  these  and  other  such 
examples  of  great  weight  and  high  authority,  and  animated 
moreover  by  a  lively  desire  of  walking  with  a  safe  conscience 
and  a  firm  step  in  the  deliberations  of  which  we  shall  speak 
hereafter,  have  omitted  no  care,  no  pains,  in  order  to  arrive  at 
a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  origin,  the  progress,  and  the  actual 
state  of  that  regular  order  commonly  called  '*  the  Company  of 
Jesus."  In  the  course  of  these  investigations  we  have  seen 
that  the  holy  founder  of  the  Order  did  institute  it  for  the  sal- 
vation of  souls,  the  conversion  of  heretics  and  infidels,  and,  in 
short,  for  the  greater  advancement  of  piety  and  religion.  xA.nd, 
in  order  to  attain  more  surely  and  happily  so  laudable  a  design, 
he  consecrated  himself  rigorously  to  God  by  an  absolute  vow 
of  evangelical  poverty,  with  which  to  bind  the  Society  in  gen- 
eral, and  each  individual  in  particular,  except  only  the  colleges 
in  which  polite  literature  and  other  branches  of  knowledge 
were  to  be  taught,  and  which  were  allowed  to  possess  property, 
but  so  that  no  part  of  their  revenues  could  ever  be  applied  to 
the  use  of  the  said  Society  in  general.  It  was  under  these  and 
other  holy  restrictions  that  the  Company  of  Jesus  was  approved 
by  the  Pope  Paul  III,  our  predecessor  of  blessed  memory,  by 
his  letter  sub  plumbo,  dated  27th  September,  1540. 

[Here  Clement  enumerates  the  other  Popes  who  had  either 
confirmed  or  increased  the  privileges  already  granted  to  the 
Society.] 

Notwithstanding  so  many  and  so  great  favors,  it  appears  from 
the  apostolic  constitutions  that,  almost  at  the  very  moment 


TJie  Old  Regime  i7i  Europe  159 

of  its  institution,  there  arose  in  the  bosom  of  this  Society  Dissensions 
divers  seeds  of  discord  and  dissension,  not  only  among  the  caused  by  the 
companions  themselves,  but  with  other  regular  orders,  the 
secular  clergy,  the  academies,  the  universities,  the  public 
schools,  and,  lastly,  even  with  the  princes  of  the  states  in  which 
the  Society  was  received.  ...  In  short,  accusations  of  the 
gravest  nature,  and  very  detrimental  to  the  peace  and  tran- 
quillity of  the  Christian  republic,  have  been  continually  received 
against  the  said  Order.  Hence  the  origin  of  that  infinity  of 
appeals  and  protests  against  the  Society,  which  so  many  sov- 
ereigns have  laid  at  the  foot  of  the  throne  of  our  predecessors 
Paul  IV,  Pius  V,  and  Sixtus  V.  .   .  . 

The  dissensions  among  themselves,  and  with  others,  grew  The  Society 
every  day  more  animated  ;   the  accusations  against  the  Society  ^^^Jg^d  with 
were  multiplied  without  number,  and  especially  that  of  insatiable  securing 
avidity  of  temporal  possessions  with  which  it  was  reproached,  temporal 
Hence  the  rise  not  only  of  those  well-known  troubles  which  Possessions 
brought  so  much  care  and  solicitude  upon  the  Holy  See,  but 
also  of  the  resolutions  which  certain  sovereigns  took  against 
the  said  Order.  ... 

After  so  many  storms,  troubles,  and  divisions,  every  good  Dissensions 
man  looked  forward  with  impatience  to  the  happy  day  which  ^^^^  J° 

.,,.  _,  11  •  f  expulsion  of 

was  to  restore  peace  and  tranquillity.  But  under  the  reign  01  Jesuits  in 
this  same  Clement  XIII  the  times  became  more  difficult  and  France,  Spain 
tempestuous  ;  complaints  and  quarrels  were  multiplied  on  every  P*!*"^^  '  ^" 
side ;  in  some  places  dangerous  seditions  arose,  tumults,  dis- 
cords, dissensions,  scandals,  which,  weakening  or  entirely 
breaking  the  bonds  of  Christian  charity,  excited  the  faithful 
to  all  the  rage  of  party  hatreds  and  enmities.  Desolation  and 
danger  grew  to  such  a  height  that  the  very  sovereigns  whose 
piety  and  liberality  towards  the  Company  were  so  well  known  as 
to  be  looked  upon  as  hereditary  in  their  families  —  we  mean 
our  dearly  beloved  sons  in  Christ,  the  kings  of  France,  Spain, 
Portugal,  and  Sicily  —  found  themselves  reduced  to  the  neces- 
sity of  expelling  and  driving  from  their  states,  kingdoms,  and 
provinces  these  very  Companions  of  Jesus,  because  they  were 
persuaded  that  there  remained  no  other  remedy  for  so  great 
evils,  and  that  this  stej:)  was  necessary  in  order  to  prevent  the 


i6o  Readings  in  Modern  European  History 

Christians  from  rising  one  against  another,  and  from  massa- 
cring one  another  in  the  very  bosom  of  our  common  mother, 
the  Holy  Church.  The  said  our  dear  sons  in  Jesus  Christ,  having 
since  considered  that  even  this  remedy  would  not  be  sufficient 
towards  reconciling  the  whole  Christian  world  unless  the  said 
Society  was  absolutely  abolished  and  suppressed,  made  known 
their  demands  and  wills  in  this  matter  to  our  said  predecessor 
Clement  XIII.  .  .  . 

Actuated  by  so  many  and  important  considerations,  and,  as 
we  hope,  aided  by  the  presence  and  inspiration  of  the  Holy 
Spirit;  compelled  by  the  necessity  of  our  ministry,  which 
strictly  obliges  us  to  conciliate,  maintain,  and  confirm  the 
peace  and  tranquillity  of  the  Christian  republic,  and  remove 
every  obstacle  which  may  tend  to  trouble  it ;  having  further- 
more considered  that  the  said  Company  of  Jesus  can  no  longer 
produce  those  abundant  fruits,  and  those  great  advantages, 
with  a  view  to  which  it  was  instituted,  approved  by  so  many 
of  our  predecessors,  and  endowed  with  so  many  and  extensive 
privileges ;  that,  on  the  contrary,  it  would  be  very  difficult,  not 
to  say  impossible,  for  the  Church  to  recover  a  firm  and  durable 
peace  so  long  as  the  said  Society  subsisted;  .  .  .  therefore. 
Complete  after  a  mature  deliberation,  we  do,  out  of  our  certain  knowl- 
destruction  of  edge,  and  fullness  of  our  apostolic  power,  suppress  and  abolish 

the  Order  ,  -j   ^  i         .         •        r     n  •    •.         i     .  r 

the  said  Company  :  we  deprive  it  of  all  activity  whatever,  or 
its  houses,  schools,  colleges,  hospitals,  lands,  and,  in  short, 
every  other  place  whatsoever,  in  whatever  kingdom  or  province 
they  may  be  situated ;  we  abrogate  and  annul  its  statutes, 
rules,  customs,  decrees,  and  constitutions,  even  though  con- 
firmed by  oath,  and  approved  by  the  Holy  See  or  otherwise ; 
in  like  manner  we  annul  all  and  every,  its  privileges,  grants, 
general  or  particular.  .  .   . 

Section  2J.    The  EnglisJi  Established  Chnrch  and  the 
Protesta7it  Sects 

Voltaire  gives  the  following  lively  account  of  his  im- 
pressions of  the  various  religious  sects  in  England.  He 
is  speaking  of  Walpole's  time. 


TJie  Old  Regime  in  Europe  1 6 1 

England  is  properly  the  country  of  religious  sects.    Muliae  80.  Voltaire's 
stmt  mansiones  in  do  mo  patris  met  (in  my  father's  house  are  impression  of 

X       A       T-      1-  1  1  ,-1  •     the  English 

many  mansions).    An  Jh^nglishman,  as  one  to  whom  liberty  is  sects  in  the 

natural,  may  go  to  heaven  his  own  way.  time  of 

Nevertheless,  although  every  one  is  permitted  to  serve  God  "^^^Po^® 
in  whatever  mode  or  fashion  he  thinks  proper,  their  true  reli- 
gion, that  in  which  a  man  makes  his  fortune,  is  the  sect  of 
Episcopalians  or  Churchmen,  called  the  Church  of  England, 
or  simply  the  Church,  by  way  of  eminence.  No  person  can 
possess  an  employment  either  in  England  or  Ireland  unless  he 
be  ranked  among  the  faithful,  that  is,  professes  himself  a  member 
of  the  Church  of  England.  This  reason  (which  carries  mathe- 
matical evidence  with  it)  has  converted  such  numbers  of  Dis- 
senters of  all  persuasions,  that  not  a  twentieth  part  of  the  nation 
is  out  of  the  pale  of  the  Established  Church.  The  English 
clergy  have  retained  a  great  number  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
ceremonies,  and  especially  that  of  receiving,  with  a  most  scrupu- 
lous attention,  their  tithes.  They  also  have  the  pious  ambition 
to  be  masters,  for  what  village  parson  would  not  be  Pope  ! 

Moreover,  they  very  religiously  inspire  their  flock  with  a  Decline  of 
holy  zeal  against  Dissenters  of  all  denominations.   This  zeal  religious 

•    1  1  1        rx-i      •  •        1         r  1  ,•  controversy 

was  pretty  violent  under  the  1  ones,  m  the  four  last  years  of  j„  England 
Queen  Anne;  but  was  productive  of  no  greater  mischief  than 
the  breaking  the  windows  of  some  meetinghouses  and  the 
demolishing  of  a  few  of  them.  For  religious  rage  ceased  in 
England  with  the  civil  wars,  and  was  no  more  under  Queen 
Anne  than  the  hollow  noise  of  a  sea  whose  billows  still  heaved 
so  long  after  that  storm  during  which  Whigs  and  Tories  had 
laid  waste  their  native  country,  in  the  same  manner  as  the 
Gueiphs  and  Ghibellines  formerly  did  theirs.  It  was  absolutely 
necessary  for  both  parties  to  call  in  religion  on  this  occasion ; 
the  Tories  declared  for  episcopacy,  and  the  Whigs,  as  some 
imagined,  were  for  abolishing  it :  however,  after  these  had  got 
the  upper  hand,  they  contented  themselves  with  only  abridg- 
ing it. 

At  the  time  when  the  earl  of  Oxford  and  Lord  Bolingbroke 
used  to  drink  healths  to  the  Tories,  the  Church  of  England  con- 
sidered those  noblemen  as  the  defenders  of  its  holy  privileges. 


1 62  Readings  in  Modern  European  History 


English 
clergy  more 
moral  than 
the  French 


The  lower  house  of  Convocation  (a  kind  of  House  of  Com- 
mons),  composed  wholly  of  the  clergy,  was  in  some  credit 
at  that  time ;  at  least  the  members  of  it  had  the  liberty  to 
meet,  to  dispute  on  ecclesiastical  matters,  to  sentence  impious 
books  from  time  to  time  to  the  flames,  —  that  is,  books  written 
against  themselves.  Now,  the  ministry,  which  is  composed  of 
Whigs,  does  not  so  much  as  allow  those  gentlemen  to  assemble, 
so  that  they  are  at  this  time  reduced  (in  the  obscurity  of  their 
respective  parishes)  to  the  melancholy  occupation  of  praying 
for  the  prosperity  of  the  government,  whose  tranquillity  they 
would  willingly  disturb. 

With  regard  to  the  bishops,  who  are  twenty-six  in  all,  they 
still  have  seats  in  the  House  of  Lords  in  spite  of  the  Whigs, 
because  the  ancient  abuse  of  considering  them  as  barons  sub- 
sists to  this  day.  .  . 

With  regard  to  the  morals  of  the  English  clerg}%  they  are  more 
regular  than  those  of  the  French,  and  for  this  reason.  All  the 
clergy  (a  very  few  excepted)  are  educated  in  the  universities 
of  Oxford  or  Cambridge,  far  from  the  depravity  and  corruption 
which  reign  at  the  capital.  They  are  not  called  to  digiiities  till 
very  late,  at  a  time  of  life  when  men  are  sensible  of  no  other 
passion  but  avarice,  that  is,  when  their  ambition  begins  to  fail. 
Employments  are  here  bestowed  both  in  the  Church  and  army, 
as  a  reward  for  long  services;  and  we  never  see  youngsters 
made  bishops  or  colonels  immediately  upon  their  laying  aside 
the  academical  gown ;  and  besides,  most  of  the  clergy  are 
married.  .  .   . 


Blackstone  in  his  famous  Commentaries  07i  the  Laws 
of  England^  published  1765-1 768,  gives  an  authorita- 
tive statement  of  the  legal  status  of  the  Dissenters  and 
Roman  Catholics  in  England  in  the  eighteenth  century. 

Nonconformists  are  of  two  sorts  :  first,  such  as  absent  them- 
selves from  divine  worship  in  the  Established  Church  through 
total  irreligion  and  attend  the  service  of  no  other  persua- 
and  Catholics  sion.  .  .  .  The  second  species  of  nonconformists  are  those 
m  England      ^j^^  offend  through  a  mistaken  or  perverse  zeal.    Such  were 


81.  Black- 
stone  on  the 
status  of 
Dissenters 


The  Old  Regime  in  Europe  163 

esteemed  by  our  laws,  enacted  since  the  time  of  the  Reforma- 
tion, to  be  Papists  and  Protestant  Dissenters  :  both  of  which 
were  supposed  to  be  equally  schismatics  in  not  communicating 
with  the  national  Church  ;  with  this  difference,  that  the  Papists 
divided  from  it  upon  material,  though  erroneous,  reasons ;  but 
many  of  the  Dissenters,  upon  matters  of  indifference,  or,  in 
other  words,  upon  no  reason  at  all. 

Yet,  certainly  our  ancestors  were  mistaken  in  their  plans  of  Blackstone 
compulsion  and  intolerance.    The  sin  of  schism,  as  such,  is  by  disapproves 

,  ,  .  .  .  1-1  of  religious 

no  means  the  object  of  temporal  coercion  and  punishment,  persecution 
If  through  weakness  of  intellect,  through  misdirected  piety, 
through  perverseness  and  acerbity  of  temper,  or  (which  is  often 
the  case)  through  a  prospect  of  secular  advantage  in  herding 
with  a  party,  men  quarrel  with  the  ecclesiastical  establishment, 
the  civil  magistrate  has  nothing  to  do  with  it ;  unless  their 
tenets  and  practice  are  such  as  threaten  ruin  or  disturbance 
to  the  State.  He  is  bound  indeed  to  protect  the  Established 
Church,  and  if  this  can  be  better  effected  by  admitting  none 
but  its  genuine  members  to  offices  of  trust  and  emolument,  he 
is  certainly  at  liberty  to  do  so ;  the  disposal  of  offices  being 
matter  of  favor  and  discretion.  But,  this  point  being  once 
secured,  all  persecution  for  diversity  of  opinions,  however 
ridiculous  or  absurd  they  may  be,  is  contrary  to  every  prin- 
ciple of  sound  policy  and  civil  freedom.  .  .  . 

With  regard  therefore  to  Protestant  Dissenters^  although  the  Protestant 
experience  of  their  turbulent  disposition  in  former  times  occa-  Dissenters 
sioned  several  disabilities  and  restrictions  (which  I  shall  not 
undertake  to  justify)  to  be  laid  upon  them  by  abundance  of 
statutes,  yet  at  length  the  legislature,  with  a  spirit  of  true  mag- 
nanimity, extended  that  indulgence  to  these  sectaries  w^hich 
they  themselves,  when  in  power,  had  held  to  be  countenancing 
schism,  and  denied  to  the  Church  of  England. 

'  The  penalties  are  conditionally  suspended   by  the  statute  The  Tolera- 
I  W.  &  M.  St.  I,  c.  18.    ''  For  exempting  their  Majesties'  Prot-  *'°g"  ^^*°^ 
estant  subjects,  dissenting  from  the  Church  of  England,  from 
the  penalties  of  certain  laws,"  commonly  called  the  Toleration 
Act;  which  declares,  that  neither  the  laws  above  mentioned, 
nor  any  penal  laws  made  against  popish  recusants  (except  the 


164  Readings  in  Modern  European  History 

Catholics  and  Test  Acts)  shall  extend  to  any  Dissenters  other  than  Papists 
Unitarians  ^^^  <a\ic)s\  as  deny  the  Trinity  :  provided  (i)  that  they  take  the 
oaths  of  allegiance  and  supremacy  (or  make  a  similar  affirma- 
tion being  Quakers)  and  subscribe  the  declaration  against 
popery;  (2)  that  they  repair  to  some  congregation  certified 
to  and  registered  in  the  court  of  the  bishop  or  archdeacon,  or 
at  the  county  sessions  ;  (3)  that  the  doors  of  such  meeting- 
house shall  be  unlocked,  unbarred,  and  unbolted ;  in  default 
of  which  the  persons  meeting  there  are  still  liable  to  all  the 
penalties  of  the  former  acts.  .   .   . 

Thus,  though  the  crime  of  nonconformity  is  by  no  means 
universally  abrogated,  it  is  suspended  and  ceases  to  exist  with 
regard  to  these  Protestant  Dissenters  during  their  compliance 
with  the  conditions  imposed  by  the  Act  of  Toleration  :  and, 
under  these  conditions,  all  persons  who  will  approve  them- 
selves no  Papists  or  impugners  of  the  Trinity  are  left  at  full 
liberty  to  act  as  their  consciences  shall  direct  them,  in  the 
matter  of  religious  worship.  .  .  . 
Restriction  on  [But  the  Act  of  Toleration  doth  not]  extend  to  ener- 
dissenting  ^^^^  those  clauses  of  the  statutes  13  and  14  Car.  II.  c.  4.  & 
17  Car.  II.  c.  2,  which  prohibit  (upon  pain  of  fine  and  im- 
prisonment) all  persons  from  teaching  school  unless  they  be 
licensed  by  the  ordinary  [i.e.  bishop],  and  subscribe  a  dec- 
laration of  conformity  to  the  liturgy  of  the  church,  and  rev- 
erently frequent  divine  service  established  by  the  laws  of  this 
kingdom. 
Distinction  As  to  Papists,  what  has  been  said  of  the  Protestant  Dissent- 

ers would  hold  equally  strong  for  a  general  toleration  of  them ; 
provided  their  separation  was  founded  only  upon  difference  of 
Protestant  opinion  in  religion,  and  their  principles  did  not  also  extend  to 
Dissenters  ^  subversion  of  the  civil  government.  If  once  they  could  be 
brought  to  renounce  the  supremacy  of  the  Pope,  they  might 
quietly  enjoy  their  seven  sacraments,  their  purgatory  and  au- 
ricular confession,  their  worship  of  relics  and  images,  nay,  even 
their  transubstantiation.  But  while  they  acknowledge  a  foreign 
power,  superior  to  the  sovereignty  of  the  kingdom,  they  can- 
not complain  if  the  laws  of  that  kingdom  will  not  treat  them 
upon  the  footing  of  good  subjects. 


between  the 
Roman 
Catholics  and 


TJie  Old  Regime  in  Europe  165 

Let  us  therefore  now  take  a  view  of  the  laws  in  force  against 
the  Papists,  who  may  be  divided  into  three  classes,  persons 
professing  popery,  popish  recusants  convict,  and  popish  priests. 

1.  Persons  professing  the  popish  religion,  besides  the  former  Persons  who 
penalties  for  not  frequenting  their  parish  church,  are  disabled  ^^^  Catholics 

,  .  ,        1  •  ,  -,         1  1  r  from  their 

from  taking  any  lands,  either  by  descent  or  purchase,  alter  infancy 
eighteen  years  of  age,  until  they  renounce  their  errors ;  they 
must  at  the  age  of  twenty-one  register  their  estates  before 
acquired,  and  all  future  conveyances  and  wills  relating  to  them  ; 
they  are  incapable  of  presenting  to  any  advowson,  or  granting 
to  any  other  person  any  avoidance  of  the  same»;  they  may  not 
keep  or  teach  any  school  under  pain  of  perpetual  imprison- 
ment ;  and  if  they  willingly  say  or  hear  mass,  they  forfeit  the 
one  two  hundred,  the  other  one  hundred  marks,  and  each 
shall  suffer  a  year's  imprisonment.  Thus  much  for  persons 
who,  from  the  misfortune  of  family  prejudices  or  otherwise, 
have  conceived  an  unhappy  attachment  to  the  Romish  church 
from  their  infancy,  and  publicly  profess  its  errors. 

Eut  if  any  evil  industry  is  used  to  rivet  these  errors  upon 
them,  if  any  person  sends  another  abroad  to  be  educated  in 
the  popish  religion  or  to  reside  in  any  religious  house  abroad 
for  that  purpose,  or  contributes  to  their  maintenance  when 
there,  both  the  sender,  the  sent,  and  the  contributor  are 
disabled  to  sue  in  law  or  equity,  to  be  executor  or  adminis- 
trator to  any  person,  to  take  any  legacy  or  deed  of  gift,  and  to 
bear  any  office  in  the  realm,  and  shall  forfeit  all  their  goods 
and  chattels,  and  likewise  all  their  real  estate  for  life.  And 
where  these  errors  are  also  aggravated  by  apostasy  or  per- 
version, where  a  person  is  reconciled  to  the  see  of  Rome 
or  procures  others  to  be  reconciled,  the  offense  amounts  to 
high  treason. 

2.  Popish  recusants  convicted    in  a   court    of  law  of   not  Position  of 
attending  the  seivice  of  the  Church  of  England  are  subject  to  recusants 

r   11       .  ,.,.,••  •.   •  1    r     r    •  J   convicted  in 

the  following  disabilities,  penalties,  and  lorieitures,  over  and  ^  court  of 
above  those  before  mentioned.  They  are  considered  as  persons  law  of  not 
excommunicated ;   they  can  hold  no  ofifice  or  employment ;  Jerv?ctTof\^he 
they  must  not  keep  arms  in  their  houses,  but  the  same  may  be  Established 
seized  by  the  justices  of  the  peace  ;  they  may  not  come  within  Church 


1 66  Readings  in  Modern  European  History 

ten  miles  of  London,  on  pain  of  ^^loo;  they  can  bring  no 
action  at  law,  or  suit  in  equity ;  they  are  not  permitted  to  travel 
above  five  miles  from  home,  unless  by  license,  upon  pain  of 
forfeiting  all  their  goods  ;  and  they  may  not  come  to  court 
under  pain  of  ^loo.  No  marriage  or  burial  of  such  recusant, 
or  baptism  of  his  child,  shall  be  had  otherwise  than  by  the 
ministers  of  the  Church  of  England,  under  other  severe  penal- 
ties. A  married  woman,  when  recusant,  shall  forfeit  two  thirds 
of  her  dower.  .  .  . 

[  And,  lastly,  all  recusants]  must,  within  three  months  after 
conviction,  either  submit  and  renounce  their  errors,  or,  if 
required  to  do  so  by  four  justices,  must  abjure  and  renounce 
the  realm  :  and  if  they  do  not  depart,  or  if  they  return  without 
the  king's  license,  they  shall  be  guilty  of  felony,  and  suffer 
death  as  felons,  without  benefit  of  clergy.  .  .  .  This  is  the  state, 
by  the  laws  now  in  being,  of  a  lay  papist. 
Position  of  3.  But  the  remaining  species  or  degree,  viz.  popish  priests, 
Roman  ^^.g  \^  ^  g^-jn  more  dangerous  condition.  By  statute  1 1  and  1 2 
priests  ^^-  ^^^-  ^-  4'  popJsh  priests  or  bishops,  celebrating  mass  or 
exercising  any  part  of  their  functions  in  England,  except  in 
the  houses  of  ambassadors,  are  liable  to  perpetual  imprison- 
ment. And  by  the  statute  27  Eliz.  c.  2,  any  popish  priest, 
born  in  the  dominions  of  the  crown  of  England,  who  shall 
come  over  hither  from  beyond  sea  (unless  driven  by  stress  of 
weather  and  tarrying  only  a  reasonable  time),  or  shall  be  in 
England  three  days  without  conforming  and  taking  the  oaths, 
is  guilty  of  high  treason  ;  and  all  persons  harboring  him  are 
guilty  of  felony  without  the  benefit  of  clergy. 

This  is  a  short  summary  of  the  laws  against  the  Papists,  under 
their  three  several  classes,  —  of  persons  professing  the  popish 
religion,  popish  recusants  convict,  and  popish  priests.  Of  which 
the  president,  Montesquieu,  observes,  that  they  are  so  rigorous, 
though  not  professedly  of  the  sanguinary  kind,  that  they  do 
all  the  hurt  that  can  possibly  be  done  in  cold  blood.  But  in 
answer  to  this  it  may  be  observed  (what  foreigners  who  only 
judge  from  our  statute  book  are  not  fully  apprised  of),  that 
these  laws  are  seldom  exerted  to  their  utmost  rigor;  and, 
indeed,  if  they  were,  it  would  be  very  difficult  to  excuse  them, 


TJie  Old  Regime  in  Europe  167 

For  they  are  rather  to  be  accounted  for  from  their  history, 
and  the  urgency  of  the  times  which  produced  them,  than 
to  be  approved  (upon  a  cool  review)  as  a  standing  system 
of  law. 

The  restless  machinations  of  the  Jesuits  during  the  reign  Origin  of  the 
of  Elizabeth,  the  turbulence  and  uneasiness  of  the  Papists  j"toierant 
under  the  new  religious  establishment,  and  the  boldness  of 
their  hopes  and  wishes  for  the  succession  of  the  queen  of 
Scots  obliged  the  Parliament  to  counteract  so  dangerous  a 
spirit  by  laws  of  a  great,  and  then  perhaps  necessary,  severity. 
The  powder  treason,  in  the  succeeding  reign,  struck  a  panic 
into  James  I,  which  operated  in  different  ways  :  it  occasioned 
the  enacting  of  new  laws  against  the  Papists,  but  deterred  him 
from  putting  them  in  execution.  The  intrigues  of  Queen  Hen- 
rietta in  the  reign  of  Charles  I,  the  prospect  of  a  popish  suc- 
cessor in  that  of  Charles  II,  the  assassination  plot  in  the  reign 
of  King  William,  and  the  avowed  claim  of  a  popish  pretender 
to  the  crown  in  subsequent  reigns  will  account  for  the  exten- 
sion of  these  penalties  at  those  several  periods  of  our  history. 

But  if  a  time  should  ever  arrive,  and  perhaps  it  is  not  very 
distant,  when  all  fears  of  a  pretender  shall  have  vanished,  and 
the  power  and  influence  of  the  Pope  shall  become  feeble, 
ridiculous,  and  despicable,  not  only  in  England,  but  in  every 
kingdom  of  Europe,  it  probably  would  not  then  be  amiss  to 
review  and  soften  these  rigorous  edicts ;  at  least  till  the  civil 
principles  of  the  Roman  Catholics  called  again  upon  the  legis- 
lature to  renew  them ;  for  it  ought  not  to  be  left  in  the  breast 
of  every  merciless  bigot  to  drag  down  the  vengeance  of  these 
occasional  laws  upon  inoffensive,  though  mistaken,  subjects, 
in  opposition  to  the  lenient  inclinations  of  the  civil  magistrate, 
and  to  the  destruction  of  every  principle  of  toleration  and 
religious  liberty. 

In  order  the  better  to  secure  the  Established  Church  against   The  Corpora 
perils    from    nonconformists    of    all    denominations,    infidels^  ^^^"^  ^^* 
Turks,  Jews,  heretics.  Papists,  and  sectaries,  there  are,  however, 
two  bulwarks  erected,  called  the  Corporation  and  Test  acts  . 
by  the  former  of  which  no  person  can  be  legally  elected  to 
any  office  relating  to  the  government  of  any  city  or  corporation, 


1 68  Readings  in  Modern  En7'opean  History 

unless,  within  a  twelvemonth  before,  he  has  received  the 
sacrament  of  the  Lord's  supper  according  to  the  rites  of  the 
Church  of  England  ;  and  he  is  also  enjoined  to  take  the  oaths 
of  allegiance  and  supremacy  at  the  same  time  that  he  takes 
the  oath  of  office ;  or,  in  default  of  either  of  these  requisites, 
such  election  shall  be  void. 
The  Test  Act  The  Other,  called  the  Test  Act,  directs  all  officers  civil  and 
military  to  take  the  oaths  and  make  the  declaration  against 
transubstantiation,  in  any  of  the  king's  courts  at  Westminster, 
or  at  the  quarter  sessions,  within  six  calendar  months  after 
their  admission  ;  and  also  within  the  same  time  to  receive  the 
sacrament  of  the  Lord's  supper,  according  to  the  usage  of  the 
Church  of  England,  in  some  public  church  immediately  after 
divine  service  and  sermon,  and  to  deliver  into  court  a  certifi- 
cate thereof  signed  by  the  minister  and  churchwarden,  and 
also  to  prove  the  same  by  two  credible  witnesses,  upon  for- 
feiture of  ^500  and  disability  to  hold  the  said  office.  And  of 
much  the  same  nature  with  these  is  the  statute  7  Jac.  L  c.  2, 
which  permits  no  persons  to  be  naturalized  or  restored  in  blood 
but  such  as  undergo  a  like  test :  which  test  having  been 
removed  in  1753,  in  favor  of  the  Jews,  was  the  next  session 
of  Parliament  restored  again  with  some  precipitation. 


82.  Extracts 
trom  John 
"Wesley's 
Journal 


Turning  from  the  scofifing  reflections  of  Voltaire  and 
the  legal  distinctions  of  Blackstone  to  the  Journal  of 
John  Wesley,  we  find  ourselves  in  an  atmosphere  of 
religious  fervor  and  devotion  which  characterized  the 
Methodist  church,  the  chief  new  Protestant  sect  in  the 
eighteenth  century. 

With  regard  to  my  own  behavior,  I  now  renewed  and  wrote 
down  my  former  resolutions. 

1.  To  use  absolute  openness  and  unreserve  with  all  I  should 
converse  with. 

2.  To  labor  after  continual  seriousness,  not  willingly  indulg- 
ing myself  in  any  the  least  levity  of  behavior,  or  in  laughter  3 
no,  not  for  a  moment. 


The  Old  Regime  in  Europe  169 

3.  To  speak  no  word  which  does  not  tend  to  the  glory  of 
God  ;  in  particular,  not  to  talk  of  worldly  things.  Others  may, 
nay,  must.    But  what  is  that  to  thee? 

4.  To  take  no  pleasure  which  does  not  tend  to  the  glory  of 
God  ;  thanking  God  every  moment  for  all  I  do  take,  and  there- 
fore rejecting  every  sort  and  degree  of  it,  which  I  feel  I  cannot 
so  thank  him  in  and  for. 

Wed.,  May  24.    I  think  it  was  about  five  this  morning  that  I  Wesley's 
opened  my  Testament  on  those  words,  "There  are  given  unto  " conversion'^ 

^  , .  ,  .  .  ,     ^  ,        ,  ,    in  the  year 

US  exceedmg  great  and  precious  promises,  even  that  ye  should  j^.g 
be  partakers  of  the  divine  nature"  (2  Peter  i.  4).  Just  as  I 
went  out,  I  opened  it  again  on  those  words,  "  Thou  art  not  far 
from  the  kingdom  of  God."  In  the  afternoon  I  was  asked  to 
go  to  St.  Paul's.  The  anthem  was,  "  Out  of  the  deep  have  I 
called  unto  thee,  O  Lord  :  Lord,  hear  my  voice.  O  let  thine 
ears  consider  well  the  voice  of  my  complaint.  If  thou.  Lord, 
wilt  be  extreme  to  mark  what  is  done  amiss,  O  Lord,  who  may 
abide  it?  For  there  is  mercy  with  thee  ;  therefore  shalt  thou 
be  feared.  O  Israel,  trust  in  the  Lord  :  for  with  the  Lord  there 
is  mercy,  and  with  him  is  plenteous  redemption.  And  he  shall 
redeem  Israel  from  all  his  sins." 

In  the  evening  I  went  very  unwillingly  to  a  society  in 
Aldersgate  street,  where  one  was  reading  Luther's  preface  to 
the  Epistle  to  the  Romans.  About  a  quarter  before  nine,  while 
he  was  describing  the  change  which  God  works  in  the  heart 
through  faith  in  Christ,  I  felt  my  heart  strangely  warmed.  I 
felt  I  did  trust  in  Christ,  Christ  alone,  for  salvation ;  and  an 
assurance  was  given  me  that  he  had  taken  away  my  sins,  even 
mine,  and  saved  me  from  the  law  of  sin  and  death. 

I  began  to  pray  with  all  my  might  for  those  who  had  in  a 
more  especial  manner  despitefully  used  me  and  persecuted  me. 
I  then  testified  openly  to  all  there  what  I  now  felt  in  my  heart. 
But  it  was  not  long  before  the  enemy  suggested,  "This  cannot 
be  faith  ;  for  where  is  thy  joy?  "  Then  w^as  I  taught  that  peace 
and  victory  over  sin  are  essential  to  faith  in  the  Captain  of  our 
salvation  ;  but  that,  as  to  the  transports  of  joy  that  usually 
attend    the    beginning   of    it,   especially   in    those   who    have 


170  Readings  in  Modern  European  History 

mourned    deeply,    God    sometimes    giveth,    sometimes    with- 
holdeth  them,  according  to  the  counsels  of  his  own  will. 

After  my  return  home  I  was  much  buffeted  with  tempta- 
tions, but  cried  out,  and  they  fled  away.  They  returned  again 
and  again.  I  as  often  lifted  up  my  eyes,  and  He  "sent  me 
help  from  his  holy  place."  And  herein  I  found  the  difference 
between  this  and  my  former  state  chiefly  consisted.  I  was 
striving,  yea,  fighting  with  all  my  might  under  the  law,  as  well 
as  under  grace.  But  then  I  was  sometimes,  if  not  often,  con- 
quered ;  now,  I  was  always  conqueror.  .  .  . 
The  colliers  Many  last  winter  used  tauntingly  to  say  of  Mr.  Whitefield^ 

of  Kingswood  "  j£  j^g  ^^,jU  convert  heathens,  why  does  not  he  go  to  the  colliers 
of  Kingswood?"  In  spring  he  did  so.  And  as  there  were 
thousands  who  resorted  to  no  place  of  public  worship,  he  went 
after  them  into  their  own  wilderness,  '*  to  seek  and  save  that 
which  was  lost."  When  he  was  called  away,  others  went  into 
"the  highways  and  hedges,  to  compel  them  to  come  in."  And, 
by  the  grace  of  God,  their  labor  was  not  in  vain.  The  scene 
is  already  changed.  Kingswood  does  not  now,  as  a  year  ago, 
resound  with  cursing  and  blasphemy.  It  is  no  more  filled  with 
drunkenness  and  uncleanness,  and  the  idle  diversions  that  nat- 
urally lead  thereto.  It  is  no  longer  full  of  wars  and  fightings, 
of  clamor  and  bitterness,  of  wrath  and  envyings.  Peace  and 
love  are  there.  Great  numbers  of  the  people  are  mild,  gentle, 
and  easy  to  be  entreated.  They  "do  not  cry,  neither  strive"; 
and  hardly  is  their  "voice  heard  in  the  streets";  or,  indeed, 
in  their  own  wood  ;  unless  when  they  are  at  their  usual  even- 
ing diversion  —  singing  praise  unto  God  their  Saviour. 

That  their  children,  too,  might  know  the  things  which  make 
for  their  peace,  it  was  some  time  since  proposed  to  build  a 
house  in  Kingswood  ;  and  after  many  foreseen  and  unfore- 
seen difficulties,  in  June  last  the  foundation  was  laid.  The 
ground  made  choice  of  was  in  the  middle  of  the  wood,  between 
the  London  and  Bath  roads,  not  far  from  that  called  Two  Mile 
Hill,  about  three  measured  miles  from  Bristol. 

Here  a  large  room  was  begun  for  the  school,  having  four 
small  rooms  at  either  end  for  the  schoolmasters  (and,  perhaps, 
if  it  should  please  God,  some  poor  children)  to  lodge  in.    Two 


TJie  Old  Regime  i?i  Europe  1 7 1 

persons  are  ready  to  teach,  so  soon  as  the  house  is  fit  to  receive 
them,  the  shell  of  which  is  nearly  finished  ;  so  that  it  is  hoped 
the  whole  will  be  completed  in  spring  or  early  in  the  summer. 

Mon.,  Sept.  9  [1745].    I  left  London,  and  the  next  morning  Wesley  pelted 
called  on  Dr.  Doddridge,  at  Northampton.    It  was  about  the  ^^  *^^  "^°t> 
hour  when  he  was  accustomed  to  expound  a  portion  of  Scripture 
to  young  gentlemen  under  his  care.    He  desired  me  to  take 
his  place.   It  may  be  the  seed  was  not  altogether  sown  in  vain. 

Thurs.,  12.  I  came  to  Leeds,  preached  at  five,  and  at  eight 
met  the  society ;  after  which  the  mob  pelted  us  with  dirt  and 
stones  great  part  of  the  way  home.  The  congregation  was 
much  larger  next  evening ;  and  so  was  the  mob  at  our  return, 
and  likewise  in  higher  spirits,  being  ready  to  knock  out  all  our 
brains  for  joy  that  the  duke  of  Tuscany  was  Emperor.  What  a 
melancholy  consideration  is  this,  that  the  bulk  of  the  English 
nation  will  not  suffer  God  to  give  them  the  blessings  he  would, 
because  they  would  turn  them  into  curses!  He  cannot,  for 
instance,  give  them  success  against  their  enemies,  for  they 
would  tear  their  ow^n  countrymen  in  pieces ;  he  cannot  trust 
them  with  victory,  lest  they  should  thank  him  by  murdering 
those  that  are  quiet  in  the  land.  .  .  . 

Thurs.,  March  24  (Worcester)  [i  785  ].  I  was  now  considering  Wesley 
how  strangely  the  grain  of  mustard  seed,  planted  about  fifty  reviews  the 
years  ago,  has  grown  up.    It  has  spread  through  all  Great  Brit-  ]\iethodism 
ain  and  Ireland,   the   Isle  of  Wight,  and  the  Isle  of   Man  ;  during  fifty 
then  to  America  from  the  Leeward  Islands,  through  the  whole  ^^^^^ 
continent,  into  Canada  and  Newfoundland.    And  the  societies, 
in  all  these  parts,  walk  by  one  rule,  knowing  religion  is  holy 
tempers  ;  and  striving  to  worship  God,  not  in  form  only,  but 
likewise  "  in  spirit  and  in  truth." 

Tues.,  June  28.  By  the  good  providence  of  God,  I  finished 
the  eighty-second  year  of  my  age.  Is  anything  too  hard  for  God  ? 
It  is  now  eleven  years  since  I  have  felt  any  such  thing  as  weari- 
ness :  many  times  I  speak  till  my  voice  fails,  and  I  can  speak 
no  longer  ;  frequently  I  walk  till  my  strength  fails,  and  I  can 
walk  no  farther ;  yet  even  then  I  feel  no  sensation  of  weari- 
ness, but  am  perfectly  easy  from  head  to  foot.  I  dare  not 
impute  this  to  natural  causes  :    it  is  the  will  of  God. 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE  SPIRIT  OF  REFORM 

Section  28.     The  Development  of  Modern  Science 

Whewell,  in  his  History  of  the  hidiictive  Sciences,  thus 
characterizes  the  attitude  of  a  great  part  of  the  mediaeval 
thinkers  towards  science. 

83.  Contrast       We  have  akeady  stated  that  real  scientific  progress  requires 

between  the  (distinct  general  ideas  applied  to  many  special  and  certain  facts, 
mediaeval        ^,°.-.,.,  ,  1  i, 

and  the  Ii^  the  period  of  which  we  now  have  to  speak,  namely,  the 

modern  atti-  mediaeval,  men's  ideas  were  obscured ;  their  disposition  to  bring 
tude  toward  ^j^^j^.  general  views  into  accordance  with  facts  was  enfeebled, 
science  They  were  thus  led  to  employ  themselves  unprofitably  among 

indistinct  and  unreal  notions ;  and  the  evil  of  these  tendencies 
was  further  inflamed  by  moral  peculiarities  in  the  character  of 
those  times,  —  by  an  abjectness  of  thought,  on  the  one  hand, 
which  could  not  help  looking  towards  some  intellectual  supe- 
rior; and  by  an  impatience  of  dissent,  on  the  other.  .  .  . 

The  fact  that  mere  collections  of  the  opinions  of  physical 
philosophers  came  to  hold  a  prominent  place  in  literature 
already  indicated  a  tendency  to  an  indistinct  and  wandering 
apprehension  of  such  opinions.  .  .  .  Even  Aristotle  himself  is 
much  in  the  habit  of  enumerating  the  opinions  of  those  who 
have  preceded  him.  To  present  such  statements  as  an  impor- 
tant part  of  physical  philosophy  shows  an  erroneous  and  loose 
apprehension  of  its  nature.  .  .  .  Such  diversities  of  opinion 
convey  no  truth ;  such  a  multiplicity  of  statements  of  what  has 
been  said  in  no  degree  teaches  us  what  is ;  such  accumulations 
of  indistinct  notions,  however  vast  and  varied,  do  not  make  up 
one  distinct  idea. 

.  .  .  But  the  indistinctness  of  thought  which  is  so  fatal  a 
feature  in  the  intellect  of  the  stationary  period  may  be  traced 

172 


The  Spirit  of  Reform  173 

mere  directly  in  the  works  even  of  the  best  authors  of  those  Pliny's  story 
times.  .  .  .  Thus,  if  men  had  any  distinct  idea  of  mechanical  o^  ^^e  power- 
action,  they  could  not  have  accepted  for  a  moment  the  fable 
of  the  Echeneis,  or  Remora,  a  little  fish  which  was  said  to  be 
able  to  stop  a  large  ship  by  merely  sticking  to  it.  .  .  .  Pliny 
relates  the  tale  gravely  and  moralizes  upon  it  after  his  manner.^ 
''  What,"  he  cries,  "  is  more  violent  than  the  sea  and  the  winds? 
What  greater  work  of  art  than  a  ship?  Yet  one  little  fish  (the 
Echeneis)  can  hold  back  all  these  when  they  all  strain  the  same 
way.  The  winds  may  blow,  the  waves  may  rage  ;  but  this  small 
creature  controls  their  fury,  and  stops  a  vessel,  when  chains 
and  anchors  would  not  hold  it :  and  this  it  does  not  by  hard 
labor  but  by  merely  adhering  to  it.  Alas  for  human  vanity, 
when  the  turreted  ships,  which  man  has  built  that  he  may  fight 
from  castle  walls  at  sea  as  well  as  on  land,  are  held  captive  and 
motionless  by  a  fish  a  foot  and  a  half  long  !  Such  a  fish  is  said 
to  have  stopped  the  admiral's  ship  at  the  battle  of  Actium, 
and  compelled  Antony  to  go  into  another.  And  in  our  own 
memory  one  of  these  animals  held  fast  the  ship  of  Caius,  the 
emperor,  when  he  was  sailing  from  Astura  to  Antium.  The 
stopping  of  this  ship  when  all  the  rest  of  the  fleet  went  on 
caused  surprise ;  but  this  did  not  last  long,  for  some  of  the 
men  jumped  into  the  water  to  look  for  the  fish,  and  found 
it  sticking  to  the  rudder.  They  showed  it  to  Caius,  who 
was  indignant  that  this  animal  should  interpose  its  prohibi- 
tion to  his  progress,  when  impelled  by  four  hundred  rowers. 
It  was  like  a  slug,  and  had  no  power  after  it  was  taken  into 
the  ship." 

A  very  little  advance  in  the  power  of  thinking  clearly  on 
the  force  which  it  exerted  in  pulling  would  have  enabled  the 
Romans  to  see  that  the  ship  and  its  rowers  must  pull  the  adher- 
ing fish  by  the  hold  of  the  oars  upon  the  water ;  and  that, 
except  the  fish  had  a  hold  equally  strong  on  some  external 
body,  it  could  not  resist  this  force.^ 

1  Pliny's  Natural  History,  Bk.  xxxii,  chap.  v. 

2  Lactantius,  a  Christian  writer  of  Constantine's  time,  like  Pliny, 
much  read  in  the  Middle  Ages,  well  illustrates  the  confusion  of  thought 
of  which  Whewell  speaks.    He  is  discussing  the  idea  advanced  by  the 


174  Readings  in  Modern  European  History 

84.  Francis  While  Roger  Bacon  had,  in  the  thirteenth  century, 
daims  «^  forecast  the  methods  of  modern  science,  it  remained  for 
principles     Francis    Bacon,  some   three  centuries  later,  clearly  to 

of  modern  .  .  .      .    ,        ...,.,  ,  ^/-z        a  i 

scientific  enunciate  its  principles  in  his  little  volume  Of  the  Ad- 
progress       vanccment  of  Learning,  and  in  his  more  extensive  and 

famous  N'oviun  Otgajinm,  which  he  dedicated  to  James  I. 

In  these  works,  from  which  the  following  extracts  are 

taken,  he  harshly  criticises  the  mediaeval  attitude  toward 

natural  science. 

Weakness  Surely,  like  as  many  substances  in  nature  which  are  solid  do 

°  h  f  ti  putrefy  and  corrupt  into  worms,  so  it  is  the  property  of  good 
philosophers  and  sound  knowledge  to  putrefy  and  dissolve  into  a  number  of 
subtle,  idle,  unwholesome,  and  (as  I  may  term  them)  vermicu- 
late  questions,  which  have  indeed  a  kind  of  quickness  and  life 
of  spirit,  but  no  soundness  of  matter  and  goodness  of  quality. 
This  kind  of  degenerate  learning  did  chiefly  reign  among  the 
schoolmen  [i.e.  scholastic  philosophers]  :  who,  having  sharp 
and  strong  wits,  and  abundance  of  leisure,  and  small  variety 

philosophers  that  there  may  be  men  hving  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
globe.  "How  can  there  be  any  one  so  absurd  as  to  think  that  men  can 
have  their  feet  higher  than  their  heads  ;  or  that  in  those  parts  of  the 
earth  instead  of  resting  on  the  ground  things  hang  down ;  crops  and 
trees  grow  downward  ;  rain,  snow%  and  hail  fall  upward  on  to  the  earth  ? 
Who  indeed  can  wonder  at  the  hanging  gardens  which  are  reckoned  as 
one  of  the  seven  wonders  when  the  philosophers  would  have  us  believe 
in  hanging  fields  and  cities,  seas  and  mountains  ?  .  .  . 

"  If  you  ask  those  who  maintain  these  monstrous  notions  why  every- 
thing does  not  fall  off  into  the  heavens  on  that  side,  they  reply  that  it 
is  of  the  nature  of  things  that  all  objects  having  weight  are  borne  toward 
the  center,  and  that  everything  is  connected  with  the  center,  like  the 
spokes  of  a  wheel ;  while  light  things,  like  clouds,  smoke,  and  fire,  are 
borne  away  from  the  center  and  seek  the  heavens.  I  scarce  know  what 
to  say  of  such  fellows,  who  when  once  they  have  wandered  from  truth 
persevere  in  their  foolishness  and  defend  their  absurdities  by  new  ab- 
surdities. Sometimes  I  imagine  that  their  philosophizing  is  all  a  joke, 
or  that  they  know  the  truth  well  enough  and  only  defend  these  Ues  in 
a  perverse  attempt  to  exhibit  and  exercise  their  wit."  —  Divinae  InstiH<.- 
Hones,  Lib.  iii,  sect.  24 ;  Corp.  Scrip.  Eccl.  Lat.,  XIX,  pp.  254  sq. 


The  spirit  of  Reform  175 

of  reading,  but  their  wits  being  shut  up  in  the  cells  of  a  few 
authors  (chiefly  Aristotle,  their  dictator)  as  their  persons  were 
shut  up  in  the  cells  of  monasteries  and  colleges,  and  knowing 
little  history,  either  of  nature  or  time,  did  out  of  no  great 
quantity  of  matter  and  infinite  agitation  of  wit  spin  out  unto 
us  those  laborious  webs  of  learning  which  are  extant  in  their 
books.  For  the  wit  and  mind  of  man,  if  it  work  upon  matter, 
w^hich  is  the  contemplation  of  the  creatures  of  God,  worketh 
according  to  the  stuff  and  is  limited  thereby ;  but  if  it  work 
upon  itself,  as  the  spider  worketh  his  web,  then  it  is  endless, 
and  brings  forth  indeed  cobwebs  of  learning,  admirable  for 
fineness  of  thread  and  work,  but  of  no  substance  or  profit.  .  .  . 

Another  error  hath  proceeded  from  too  great  a  reverence, 
and  a  kind  of  adoration  of  the  mind  and  understanding  of 
man ;  by  means  whereof,  men  have  withdrawn  themselves  too 
much  from  the  contemplation  of  nature,  and  the  observations 
of  experience,  and  have  tumbled  up  and  down  in  their  own 
reason  and  conceits.  Upon  these  intellectualists,  which  are 
notwithstanding  commonly  taken  for  the  most  sublime  and 
divine  philosophers,  Heraclitus  gave  a  just  censure,  saying, 
"  Men  sought  truth  in  their  own  little  w^orlds,  and  not  in  the 
great  common  world  "  ;  for  they  disdain  to  spell,  and  so  by 
degrees  to  read  in  the  volume  of  God's  works.   .  .  . 

Another  error  is  an  impatience  of  doubt,  and  haste  to  asser- 
tion without  due  and  mature  suspension  of  judgment.  For 
the  two  ways  of  contemplation  are  not  unlike  the  two  ways  of 
action  commonly  spoken  of  by  the  ancients  :  the  one  plain  and 
smooth  in  the  beginning,  and  in  the  end  impossible  ;  the  other 
"ough  and  troublesome  in  the  entrance,  and  after  a  while  fair 
and  even  :  so  it  is  in  contemplation  ;  if  a  man  will  begin  with 
certainties,  he  shall  end  in  doubts  ;  but  if  he  will  be  content 
to  begin  with  doubts,  he  shall  end  in  certainties. 

There  is  no  soundness  in  our  notions,  whether  logical  or 
physical.  Substance,  quality,  action,  passion,  essence  itself  are 
not  sound  notions ;  much  less  are  heavy,  light,  dense,  rare, 
moist,  dry,  generation,  corruption,  attraction,  repulsion,  ele- 
ment, matter,  form,  and  the  like  ;  but  all  are  fantastical  and 
ill-defined.  ... 


176  Readings  in  Modern  Europe  mi  History 


No  conflict 
between 
science  and 
religion 


Religious  It  is  not  to  be  forgotten  that  in  every  age  natural  philoso- 

opposition  to  pj^y  j^^g  had  a  troublesome  adversary  and  hard  to  deal  with,  — 
namely,  superstition  and  the  blind  and  immoderate  zeal  of 
religion.  For  we  see  among  the  Greeks  that  those  who  first 
proposed  to  man's  uninitiated  ears  the  natural  causes  for  thun- 
der and  for  storms  were  thereupon  found  guilty  of  impiety. 
Nor  was  much  more  forbearance  shown  by  some  of  the  ancient 
fathers  of  the  Christian  Church  to  those  who,  on  most  convinc- 
ing grounds  (such  as  no  one  in  his  senses  would  now  think  of 
contradicting),  maintained  that  the  earth  was  round  and,  of 
consequence,  asserted  the  existence  of  the  antipodes.^ 

Lastly,  some  are  weakly  afraid  lest  a  deeper  search  into 
nature  should  transgress  the  permitted  limits  of  sober-minded- 
ness, wrongfully  wresting  and  transferring  what  is  said  in  Holy 
Writ  against  those  who  pry  into  sacred  mysteries  to  the  hidden 
things  of  nature,  which  are  barred  by  no  prohibition.  Others, 
with  more  subtlety,  surmise  and  reflect  that  if  secondary  causes 
are  unknown  everything  can  be  more  readily  referred  to  the 
divine  hand  and  rod,  —  a  point  in  which  they  think  religion 
greatly  concerned  ;  which  is,  in  fact,  nothing  else  but  to  seek 
to  gratify  God  with  a  lie.  Others  fear  from  past  example  that 
movements  and  changes  in  philosophy  wdll  end  in  assaults  on 
religion  ;  and  others  again  appear  apprehensive  that  in  the 
investigation  of  nature  something  may  be  found  to  subvert, 
or  at  least  shake,  the  authority  of  religion,  especially  with 
the  unlearned. 

But  these  two  last  fears  seem  to  me  to  savor  utterly  of  carnal 
wisdom  ;  as  if  men  in  the  recesses  and  secret  thoughts  of  their 
hearts  doubted  and  distrusted  the  strength  of  religion,  and  the 
empire  of  faith  over  the  senses,  and  therefore  feared  that  the 
investigation  of  truth  in  nature  might  be  dangerous  to  them. 
But  if  the  matter  be  truly  considered,  natural  philosophy  is, 
after  the  word  of  God,  at  once  the  surest  medicine  against 
superstition  and  the  most  approved  nourishment  for  faith  ;  and 
therefore  she  is  rightly  given  to  religion  as  her  most  faithful 
handmaid,  since  the  one  displays  the  will  of  God,  the  other 
his  power.  .  .  . 

1  See  extract  from  Lactantius  given  above,  p.  173,  note. 


The  spirit  of  Reform  177 

.  .  .  Again,  in  the  customs  and  institutions  of  schools,  Universities 
academies,  colleges,  and  similar  bodies  destined  for  the  abode  opposed  to 
of  learned  men  and  the  cultivation  of  learning,  everything  is  advance 
found  adverse  to  the  progress  of  science.  For  the  lectures  and 
exercises  there  are  so  ordered  that  to  think  or  speculate  on 
anything  out  of  the  common  way  can  hardly  occur  to  any  man. 
And  if  one  or  two  have  the  boldness  to  use  any  liberty  of  judg- 
ment, they  must  undertake  the  task  all  by  themselves  ;  they 
can  have  no  advantage  from  the  company  of  others.  And  if 
they  can  endure  this  also,  they  will  find  their  industry  and 
largeness  of  mind  no  slight  hindrance  to  their  fortune.  For 
the  studies  of  men  in  these  places  are  confined  and,  as  it  were, 
imprisoned  in  the  writings  of  certain  authors,  from  whom,  if 
any  man  dissent,  he  is  straightway  arraigned  as  a  turbulent 
person  and  an  innovator.  ...  In  matters  of  state,  change 
even  for  the  better  is  distrusted,  because  it  unsettles  what  is 
estabhshed  ;  these  things  resting  on  authority,  consent,  fame, 
and  opinion,  not  on  demonstration ;  but  arts  and  sciences 
should  be  like  mines  where  the  noise  of  new  works  and  further 
advances  is  heard  on  every  side.  ...  No  one  has  yet  been 
found  so  firm  of  mind  and  purpose  as  resolutely  to  compel 
himself  to  sweep  away  all  theories  and  common  notions  and  to 
apply  the  understanding,  thus  made  fair  and  even,  to  a  fresh 
examination  of  particulars.  Thus  it  happens  that  human  knowl- 
edge, as  we  have  it,  is  a  mere  medley  and  ill-digested  mass, 
made  up  of  much  credulity  and  much  accident,  and  also  of 
the  childish  notions  which  we  at  first  imbibed. 

Now  if  any  one  of  ripe  age,  unimpaired  senses,  and  well-  Great  hopes  of 
purged  mind  apply  himself  anew  to  experience  and  particulars,  experimental 
better  hopes  may  be  entertained  of  that  man.  In  which  point 
I  promised  to  myself  a  like  fortune  to  that  of  Alexander  the 
Great,  who,  according  to  Titus  Livius,  "  had  done  no  more 
than  take  courage  to  despise  vain  apprehensions."  And  a  like 
judgment  I  suppose  may  be  passed  on  myself  in  future  ages : 
that  I  did  no  great  things,  but  simply  made  less  account  of 
things  that  were  counted  great.  In  the  meanwhile,  as  I  have 
already  said,  there  is  no  hope  except  in  a  new  birth  of  science  ; 
that  is,  in  raising  it  regularly  up  from  experience,  and  building 


1/8  Readings  in  Modern  European  History 

it  afresh ;  which  no  one,  I  think,  will  say  has  yet  been  done  or 
thought  of. 

The  truly  astonishing  advances  in  natural  science 
which  antedate  the  French  Revolution,  and  upon  which 
the  discoveries  of  the  nineteenth  century  were  based, 
are  thus  summed  up  by  a  brilliant  French  writer. 

85.  The  In  pure  mathematics  we   have  infinitesimal  calculus,  dis- 

scientific       covered  simultaneously  by  Leibnitz  and  Newton  ;  in  astronomy, 
in  the  ^he  series  of  calculations  and  observations  which,  from  Newton 

eighteenth    to  Laplace,  transforms  science  into  a  problem  of  mechanics, 
century        explains  and  predicts  the  movements  of  the  planets  and  of 
from  Taine)  their  satellites,  indicates  the  origin  and  formation  of  our  solar 
system,  and,  extending  beyond  this   through  the  discoveries 
of   Herschel,  affords   an  insight  into  the  distribution  of  the 
stellar   archipelagoes  and   of   the   grand   outlines  of  celestial 
architecture. 
Inorganic  In  physics  we  have  the  decomposition  of  light  and  the  prin- 

sciences  ciples  of  optics  discovered  by  Newton,  the  velocity  of  sound, 
the  form  of  its  undulations,  the  primary  laws  of  the  radiation 
of  heat,  the  experiments  by  which  Du  Fay,  Franklin,  and 
especially  Coulomb  explain,  manipulate,  and  for  the  first  time 
utilize,  electricity.  In  chemistry  the  chief  foundations  of  the 
science  were  laid  :  isolation  of  oxygen,  nitrogen,  and  hydro- 
gen, the  composition  of  water,  the  theory  of  combustion,  chem- 
ical nomenclature,  quantitative  analysis,  the  indestructibility 
of  matter,  —  in  short,  the  discoveries  of  vScheele,  Priestley, 
Cavendish,  Lavoisier. 

In  geology  we  have  the  verification  and  results  of  Newton's 
theory,  the  exact  form  of  the  earth,  the  laws  of  the  tides,  the 
primitive  fluidity  of  the  planet,  the  aqueous  and  igneous  origin 
of  rocks,  the  structure  of  the  beds  of  fossils,  the  repeated  and 
prolonged  submersion  of  continents,  the  slow  growth  of  animal 
and  vegetable  deposits,  the  vast  antiquity  of  life,  the  gradual 
transformation  of  the  earth's  surface,  and,  finally,  the  grand 
picture  in  which  Buffon  describes  approximately  the  entire 
history  of  our  globe  from  the  time  it  formed  a  mass  of  glowing 


TJie  Spirit  of  Reform  1 79 

lava  down  to  the  time  when  our  own  species,  after  so  many 
lost  or  surviving  ones,  was  able  to  inhabit  it. 

Upon  this  science  of  inorganic  matter  we  see  arising  at  the  Organic 
same  time  the  science  of  organic  matter.  Linnaeus  invents  sciences 
botanical  nomenclature  and  the  first  satisfactory  classifications 
of  plants.  Digestion  is  explained  by  Reaumur  and  Spallanzani, 
respiration  by  Lavoisier.  Scientists  penetrate  to  the  lowest 
stages  of  animal  life.  Lyonnet  devotes  twenty  years  to  por- 
traying a  species  of  caterpillar.  Needham  reveals  his  infusoria. 
Buffon  and,  above  all,  Lamarck,  in  their  great  but  incomplete 
sketches,  outline  with  penetrating  divination  the  leading  fea- 
tures of  modern  physiology  and  zoology.  Organic  molecules 
everywhere  diffused,  which  multiply  and  combine  with  one 
another  through  blind  and  spontaneous  development,  without 
either  foreign  direction  or  any  preconceived  end,  solely  through 
the  effects  of  their  structure  and  surroundings,  unite  together 
and  form  those  masterly  organisms  which  we  call  plants  and 
animals.  In  the  beginning  we  have  the  simplest  forms,  followed 
by  slowly  developing,  complex,  and  perfected  organisms,  —  all 
indicated,  by  conjecture  and  approximation,  the  cellular  theory 
of  later  physiologists  and  the  conclusions  of  Darwin.  In  the 
picture  of  nature  which  the  human  mind  now  portrays,  the 
science  of  the  eighteenth  century  has  drawn  the  general  out- 
line, and  indicated  the  perspective  and  the  general  masses  so 
correctly  that  at  the  present  day  all  its  main  features  remain 
intact.    Except  a  few  partial  changes,  there  is  nothing  to  efface. 

Section  2g.    Hozv  the  Scieiitific  Discoveries  produced 
a  Spirit  of  Reform 

Voltaire  in  his  Letters  on  the  EnglisJi,  which  he  pub- 
lished shortly  after  his  return  from  England,  thus  speaks 
of  the  development  of  science  under  the  influence  of 
Bacon  and  Newton. 

Not  long  since  the  following  trite  and  frivolous  question  was  86.  Voltaire 
debated  in  a  very  polite  and  learned  company,  namely,  Who  was  °°  Francis 
the  greatest  man, Caesar,  Alexander, Tamerlane, Cromwell,  etc.? 


i8o  Readings  in  Modern  European  History 

A  test  of  true  Somebody  answered,  that  Sir  Isaac  Newton  excelled  them 
greatness  ^\\^  jhg  gentleman's  assertion  was  very  just ;  for  if  true  great- 
ness consists  in  having  received  from  heaven  a  mighty  genius, 
and  in  having  employed  it  to  enlighten  our  own  minds  and 
that  of  others,  a  man  like  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  whose  equal  is 
hardly  found  in  a  thousand  years,  is  the  truly  great  man.  And 
those  politicians  and  conquerors  (and  all  ages  produce  some) 
have  generally  been  so  many  illustrious  wicked  men.  That 
man  claims  our  respect  who  commands  the  minds  of  the  rest 
of  the  world  by  the  force  of  truth — not  those  who  enslave  their 
fellow-creatures;  he  who  is  acquainted  with  the  universe  — 
not  they  who  deface  it. 

Since,  therefore,  you  desire  me  to  give  you  an  account  of  the 
famous  personages  whom  England  has  given  birth  to,  I  shall 
begin  with  Lord  Bacon,  Mr.  Locke,  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  etc. 
Afterwards  the  warriors  and  ministers  of  state  shall  come  in 
their  order. 
The  extent  of  I  must  begin  with  the  celebrated  viscount  Verulam,  known 
Bacon's  labors  j^^  Europe  by  the  name  of  Bacon,  which  was  that  of  his  family. 
His  father  had  been  Lord  Keeper,  and  he  himself  was  a  great 
many  years  Lord  Chancellor  under  King  James  the  First. 
Nevertheless,  amidst  the  intrigues  of  a  court,  and  the  affairs  of 
his  exalted  employment,  which  alone  were  enough  to  engross 
his  whole  time,  he  yet  found  so  much  leisure  for  study  as  to 
make  himself  a  great  philosopher,  a  good  historian,  and  an 
elegant  writer ;  and  a  still  more  surprising  circumstance  is 
that  he  lived  in  an  age  in  which  the  art  of  writing  justly  and 
elegantly  was  little  known,  much  less  true  philosophy.  Lord 
Bacon,  as  is  the  fate  of  man,  was  more  esteemed  after  his 
death  than  in  his  lifetime.  His  enemies  were  in  the  British 
court,  and  his  admirers  were  foreigners.  .  .  . 
The  Novum  The  most  singular  and  the  best  of  all  his  pieces  is  that  which, 

Orgaimtti  ^^  ^j^jg  ^jj^^g^  jg  ^]^g  j^Qg^-  useless  and  the  least  read,  I  mean  his 
Novum  Scie7itiaru7n  Orgamnn.  This  is  the  scaffold  with  which 
the  new  philosophy  was  raised  ;  and  when  the  edifice  was  built, 
—  part  of  it  at  least,  —  the  scaffold  was  no  longer  of  service. 

Lord  Bacon  was  not  yet  acquainted  with  Nature,  but  then 
he  knew,  and  pointed  out,  the  several  paths  that  lead  to  it. 


TJie  Spirit  of  Reform  1 8 1 

He  had  despised  in  his  younger  years  the  thing  called  phi-  Bacon's  con- 
losophy  in  the  Universities :   and  did  all  that  lay  in  his  power  *^"^P*  ^°'' 

,  .     .  r  •        ■  1-  1  philosophy 

to  prevent  those  societies  of  men,  instituted  to  improve  human 
reason,  from  depraving  it  by  their  quiddities,  their  horror  of 
the  vacuum,  their  "substantial  forms,"  and  all  those  imperti- 
nent terms  which  not  only  ignorance  had  rendered  venerable, 
but  which  had  been  made  sacred  by  their  being  ridiculously 
blended  with  religion. 

He  is  the  father  of  experimental  philosophy.    It  must  be  Bacon,  the 
confessed   that  very  surprising  secrets    had   been   found   out  father  of 

J  >-  '^  _      _  _  experimental 

before  his  time.  The  marine  compass,  printing,  engraving  on  philosophy 
copper  plates,  oil  painting,  looking-glasses  ;  the  art  of  restor- 
ing, in  some  measure,  old  men  to  their  sight  by  spectacles; 
gunpowder,  etc.,  had  been  discovered.  A  new  world  had  been 
sought  for,  found,  and  conquered.  Would  not  one  suppose  that 
these  sublime  discoveries  had  been  made  by  the  greatest  philos- 
ophers, and  in  ages  much  more  enlightened  than  the  present? 
But  it  was  far  otherwise  ;  all  these  great  changes  happened  in 
the  most  stupid  and  barbarous  times.  Chance  only  gave  birth 
to  most  of  these  inventions  ;  and  it  is  very  probable  that  what 
is  called  chance  contributed  very  much  to  the  discovery  of 
America ;  at  least  it  has  been  always  thought  that  Christopher 
Columbus  undertook  his  voyage  merely  on  the  story  of  a  cap- 
tain of  a  ship,  which  a  storm  had  drove  as  far  w^estward  as  the 
Caribbean  Islands.  Be  this  as  it  will,  men  had  sailed  round  the 
world,  and  could  destroy  cities  by  an  artificial  thunder  more 
dreadful  thaff  the  real  one  :  but  then  they  were  not  acquainted 
with  the  circulation  of  the  blood,  the  weight  of  the  air,  the  laws 
of  motion,  light,  the  number  of  our  planets,  etc.  And  a  man 
who  maintained  a  thesis  from  Aristotle's  Categories,  on  the  uni- 
versals  a  parte  rei  or  such  like  nonsense,  was  looked  upon  as 
a  prodigy.   .  .  . 

In  a  word,  no  one,  before  Lord  Bacon,  was  acquainted 
with  experimental  philosophy,  nor  with  the  several  physical 
experiments  which  have  been  made  since  his  time.  Scarce 
one  of  them  but  is  hinted  at  in  his  work,  and  he  himself  had 
made  several.  He  made  a  kind  of  pneumatic  engine,  by  which 
he  guessed  the  elasticity  of  the  air.    He  approached,  on  all 


1 82  Readifigs  in  Modem  European  History 

sides  as  it  were,  to  the  discovery  of  its  weight,  and  had  very 
near  attained  it,  but  it  was  somewhat  later  that  Torricelli  ^ 
seized  upon  this  truth.  In  a  little  time  experimental  philos- 
ophy began  to  be  cultivated  on  a  sudden  in  most  parts  of 
Europe.  It  was  a  hidden  treasure  which  Lord  Bacon  had  some 
notion  of,  and  which  all  the  philosophers,  encouraged  by  his 
promises,  endeavored  to  dig  up. 
Bacon  But  that  which  surprised  me  most  was  to  read  in  his  work, 

anticipates     -^^  express  terms,  the  new  attraction,  the  discovery  of  which 

Newton  tr  •>  ■>  j 

is  ascribed  to  Sir  Isaac  Newton.  We  must  search,  says  Lord 
Bacon,  whether  there  may  not  be  a  kind  of  magnetic  power, 
which  operates  between  the  earth  and  heavy  bodies,  between 
the  moon  and  the  ocean,  between  the  planets,  etc.  In  another 
place  he  says  that  either  hea\7  bodies  must  be  carried  towards 
the  center  of  the  earth  or  must  be  reciprocally  attracted  by 
it;  and  in  the  latter  case  it  is  evident  that  the  nearer  falling 
bodies  draw  towards  the  earth,  the  stronger  they  will  attract 
one  another. 

Voltaire's  mingling  of  jest  and  earnest  is  generally 
apparent  in  his  discussion  of  theological  matters.  He 
felt  that  the  fine  distinctions  made  by  the  divines  often 
obscured  the  main  issue.  Under  "grace"  he  writes 
as  follows  : 

87.  Voltaire  Ye  sacred  counselors  of  modern  Rome,  ye  illustrious  and 
on  grace  infallible  theologians,  no  one  has  more  respect  than  I  for  your 
opinions.  But  were  Paulus  ^milius,  Scipio,  Cato,  Cicero, 
Caesar,  Titus,  Trajan,  or  Marcus  Aurelius  to  return  to  that 
Rome  upon  which  they  formerly  cast  some  little  glory,  you 
will  admit  that  they  would  be  somewhat  startled  at  your  deci- 
sions respecting  grace.  What  would  they  say  if  they  should 
hear  of  St.  Thomas's  grace  of  health  and  of  Cajetan's  medic- 
inal grace ;  of  external  and  internal,  free,  sanctifying,  actual, 
habitual,  and  cooperating  grace ;  of  effectual  grace  which  is 
sometimes  without  effect ;    of  sufficing  grace  which  is  often 

1  A  friend  of  Galileo's  who  discovered  the  principle  of  the  barometer 
in  1643. 


The  Spirit  of  Reform  1 8  3 

insufficient :  of  versatile  and  congruous  grace  ?  Would  they, 
in  good  faith,  understand  these  any  better  than  you  and  I  do? 

How  completely  at  a  loss  would  these  poor  people  be  with- 
out your  exalted  instruction.  I  seem  to  hear  them  say  :  "  Rev- 
erend fathers,  what  stupendous  genius  is  yours  !  We  have 
been  accustomed  to  think  —  absurdly  enough,  as  it  appears  — 
that  the  Eternal  Being  never  follows  special  laws  as  we  lowly 
human  creatures  must,  but  his  own  general  laws,  eternal  like 
himself.  It  never  occurred  to  any  of  us  that  God  was  like  a 
craz}^  master  who  gave  a  fortune  to  one  slave  and  refused 
another  his  necessary  food.   .   .   . 

"  Everything  from  God  is  grace  ;  he  has  conferred  his  grace 
on  the  globe  we  dwell  upon  by  forming  it ;  upon  the  trees  the 
grace  to  grow  ;  upon  the  beasts  that  of  finding  food.  But  if 
one  wolf  finds  a  lamb  in  his  way  to  make  a  good  meal  of,  and 
another  wolf  is  famishing,  shall  we  say  that  God  has  shown 
his  special  grace  to  the  first  wolf  ?  Has  he  by  '  preventing ' 
grace  been  busied  in  causing  one  oak  to  grow  preferably  to 
another?   .  .   . 

*'  You  miserable  creatures  1  Lift  up  your  eyes  to  the  heavens  : 
see  the  Eternal  Artificer  creating  millions  of  worlds  all  gravitat- 
ing toward  one  another  by  general  and  eternal  laws  I  Behold 
the  same  hght  reflected  from  the  sun  to  Saturn  and  from  Saturn 
to  us  :  and  amidst  this  harmony  of  so  many  luminous  bodies  in 
a  course  as  amazing  as  swift,  amidst  this  general  obedience  of 
all  nature,  I  defy  you  to  believe  that  God  is  occupied  with  con- 
ferring versatile  grace  on  Sister  Theresa  and  concomitant  grace 
on  Sister  Agnes."   .   .  . 

These,  it  must  be  remembered,  are  Marcus  Aurelius's  words, 
not  mine ;  for  God,  who  inspires  you,  has  given  me  grace  to 
believe  all  that  you  say,  or  have  said,  or  shall  say. 

In  his  famous  Handy  PJiilosopJiic  Dictionary,  a  little 
volume  of  essays  on  a  variety  of  themes,  published 
anonymously  in  1764,  Voltaire  gives  under  the  word 
"  law  "  his  ideas  of  the  reform  demanded  in  Church  and 
State.    It  will  be  noted  that  he  seems  here  to  have  no 


184  Readings  in  Modern  Eit,ropea7i  History 


88.  Vol- 
taire's views 
of  the  rela- 
tion of 
Church  and 
State 


Civil 
marriage 


The  Church's 
regulations 
regarding 
usury 

Payment  of 
annates  to 
the  Pope 


All  should 
pay  taxes 

Uniformity 


quarrel  with  religion,  but  only  with  what  he  regards  as 
the  encroachments  of  the  clergy  on  the  rights  of  the  State. 

No  law  made  by  the  Church  should  ever  have  the  least 
force  unless  expressly  sanctioned  by  the  government.  It  was 
owing  to  this  precaution  that  Athens  and  Rome  escaped  all 
religious  quarrels. 

Such  religious  quarrels  are  the  trait  of  barbarous  nations  or 
such  as  have  become  barbarous. 

The  civil  magistrate  alone  may  permit  or  prohibit  labor  on 
religious  festivals,  since  it  is  not  the  function  of  the  priest  to 
forbid  men  to  cultivate  their  fields. 

Everything  relating  to  marriage  should  depend  entirely  upon 
the  civil  magistrate.  The  priests  should  confine  themselves  to 
the  august  function  of  blessing  the  union. 

Lending  money  at  interest  should  be  regulated  entirely  by 
the  civil  law,  since  trade  is  governed  by  civil  law. 

All  ecclesiastics  should  be  subject  in  every  case  to  the  gov- 
ernment, since  they  are  subjects  of  the  state. 

Never  should  the  ridiculous  and  shameful  custom  be  main- 
tained of  paying  to  a  foreign  priest  the  first  year's  revenue  of 
land  given  to  a  priest  by  his  fellow-citizens. 

No  priest  can  deprive  a  citizen  of  the  least  of  his  rights 
on  the  ground  that  the  citizen  is  a  sinner,  since  the  priest  — 
who  is  himself  a  sinner  —  should  pray  for  other  sinners,  not 
judge  them. 

Officials,  laborers,  and  priests  should  all  alike  pay  the  taxes 
of  the  state,  since  they  all  alike  belong  to  the  state. 

There  should  be  but  one  standard  of  weights  and  measures 
and  one  system  of  law. 

Let  the  punishment  of  criminals  be  useful.  A  man  when 
hanged  is  good  for  nothing  :  a  man  condemned  to  hard  labor 
continues  to  serve  his  country  and  furnish  a  living  lesson. 

Every  law  should  be  clear,  uniform,  and  precise.  To  inter- 
pret law  is  almost  always  to  corrupt  it. 

Nothing  should  be  regarded  as  infamous  except  vice. 

The  taxes  should  never  be  otherwise  than  proportional  to 
the  resources  of  him  who  pays. 


TJie  Spirit  of  Reform  1 8  5 

Diderot  and  his  collaborators  succeeded  in  finishing 
and  publishing  seven  volumes  of  their  Ericyclopcedia  dur- 
ing the  years  1751-1757.  Then  came  renewed  troubles 
and  the  retirement  of  the  discouraged  D'Alembert.  In 
1765  Diderot  finally  completed  the  remaining  ten  vol- 
umes and  issued  them  all  together  with  the  following 
preface,  in  which  he  sums  up  the  aims  of  his  work  and 
the  obstacles  which  he  and  his  fellow-workers  had  had 
to  overcome. 

When  we  began  this  enterprise  we  looked  forward  only  to  89.  Diderot's 

those  difficulties  to  which  its  extent  and  the  variety  of  the  sub-  Preface  to 

,  ,      .  .  ,  ,  .  "      ,         ,  the  last 

jects  to  be  treated  would  give  rise;  but  this  proved  to  be  a  installment 

momentary  illusion  and  we  soon  beheld  the  multitude  of  mate-  of  the 
rial  obstacles  which  we  had  foreseen  reenforced  by  an  infinite  ■^"^"<'" 
number  of  intellectual  hindrances  for  which  we  were  in  no  way 
prepared.  The  world  grows  old,  but  in  vain,  for  it  does  not 
change.  Perhaps  the  individual  may  become  better,  but  the 
mass  of  our  species  grows  neither  better  nor  worse.  The  sum 
of  noxious  passions  remains  the  same,  and  the  enemies  of  every 
good  and  useful  thing  are  innumerable,  as  they  always  have  been. 

Among  all  the  various  forms  of  persecution  inflicted,  in  all  Persecution 
times  and  among  all  peoples,  upon  those  who  have  yielded  to  ^JJ^^^^  Jj^^ 
the  dangerous  temptation  of  endeavoring  to  inscribe  their  pEedists 
names  on  the  list  of  benefactors  of  the  human  race,  there  are 
almost  none  which  have  not  been  directed  against  us.  We  have 
ourselves  experienced  every  species  of  aspersion  springing  from 
envy,  falsehood,  ignorance,  and  bigotry  of  which  history  fur- 
nishes us  any  example.  During  twenty  consecutive  years  we 
can  look  back  to  hardly  a  moment  of  rest.  After  days  devoted 
to  continuous  and  ungrateful  labor,  how  many  nights  have  we 
passed  in  apprehension  of  the  evils  with  which  malice  threat- 
ened us !  How  often  have  we  risen  uncertain  whether,  yielding 
to  the  cries  of  slander,  we  should  not  tear  ourselves  away  from 
our  relatives,  friends,  and  fellow-citizens  to  seek  the  necessary 
peace  and  protection  tendered  us  beneath  a  foreign  sky.  But 
our  country  was  dear  to  us  and  we  continued  to  hope  that 


1 86  Readings  in  Modern  European  History 

prejudice  would  give  way  to  justice.  Such,  moreover,  is  the 
character  of  the  man  intent  on  good,  and  who  is  fully  conscious 
of  the  righteousness  of  his  purpose,  that  his  courage  is  only 
increased  by  obstacles  which  he  meets,  while  his  innocence 
hides  from  him  or  leads  him  to  despise  the  dangers  which 
menace  him.  One  with  a  high  purpose  experiences  an  enthu- 
siasm of  which  the  evil-minded  can  form  no  conception. 

We  have,  moreover,  met  in  a  few  others  the  same  generous 
sentiments  which  have  sustained  us.  All  our  colleagues  have 
hastened  to  support  us.  When  our  enemies  felicitated  them- 
selves upon  having  finally  overwhelmed  us,  we  found  men  of 
letters  and  men  of  affairs,  w^ho  had  previously  contented  them- 
selves with  encouraging  or  pitying  us,  coming  to  our  aid  and 
associating  themselves  with  our  work.  Would  that  we  might 
publish  the  names  of  all  these  capable  and  courageous  allies, 
who  well  merit  public  recognition.  .  .  . 
Shortcomings  The  public  has  already  passed  judgment  on  the  first  seven 
of  the  work  yolumcs  ;  we  ask  only  a  similar  indulgence  for  these.  If  they 
refuse  to  regard  this  Encyclopcedia  as  a  great  and  finished  work, 
they  wall  only  be  in  agreement  with  ourselves,  provided,  how- 
ever, that  they  do  not  go  so  far  as  to  question  our  achievement 
in  having  at  least  prepared  a  mass  of  materials  for  such  a  work. 
.  .  .  Thanks  to  what  we  have  done,  those  who  came  after  us 
will  be  able  to  go  farther.  Without  attempting  to  determine 
what  still  remains  to  be  done,  we  at  least  hand  on  to  them  the 
finest  collection  of  apparatus  for  their  purposes  that  has  ever 
been  brought  together,  —  the  plates  dealing  with  the  mechan- 
ical arts,  the  hitherto  unexcelled  descriptions  accompanying 
them,  and  the  vast  mass  of  valuable  information  relating  to  all 
branches  of  science. 

Compatriots  and  contemporaries,  however  harshly  you  may 
judge  this  work,  remember  that  it  was  undertaken,  continued, 
and  completed  by  a  little  band  of  isolated  men,  thwarted  in 
their  designs,  exhibited  in  the  most  odious  light,  slandered,  and 
outraged  in  the  most  atrocious  manner,  without  other  encour- 
agement than  their  devotion  to  the  good,  with  the  support  of 
a  very  few  sympathizers  and  the  assistance  which  they  owed  to 
three  or  four  men  of  business.  .  .  . 


The  Spirit  of  Reform  187 

No  one  will  deny,  I  believe,  that  our  work  is  on  the  level  of  Service  of  the 
our  century,  and  that  is  something.  The  most  enlightened  per-  EncydopcBdia 
son  will  find  ideas  there  that  are  new  to  him  and  facts  of  which 
he  was  ignorant.  May  general  education  advance  with  such 
rapidity  during  the  coming  twenty  years  that  there  will  be  in  a 
thousand  of  our  pages  scarce  a  line  that  will  not  then  be  known 
to  everybody  !  It  is  the  duty  of  the  masters  of  the  world  to 
hasten  this  happy  consummation.  It  is  they  who  extend  or 
contract  the  horizon  of  knowledge.  Happy  the  time  when  they 
come  to  understand  that  their  safety  lies  in  ruling  over  educated 
men  !  Attacks  on  the  lives  of  sovereigns  have  always  been  made 
by  blind  fanatics.  How  can  we  complain  of  our  difficulties  and 
regret  our  years  of  labor  if  we  can  flatter  ourselves  that  we  have 
done  even  a  little  to  weaken  this  mad  spirit  which  is  so  hostile 
to  social  peace,  and  have  encouraged  our  fellow-beings  to  love 
one  another,  tolerate  one  another,  and  recognize  the  superiority 
of  universal  reason  over  all  individual  systems  which  can  only 
inspire  hate,  animosity,  and  disorder,  and  which  always  sever 
or  weaken  the  common  bonds  which  hold  mankind  together? 

Such  has  been  our  aim.  The  enterprise  is  at  last  finished, 
which  our  enemies  have  had  the  distinguished  honor  of  bitterly 
hampering  and  opposing  in  every  way  in  their  power.  If  it  has 
any  merits  they  are  not  due  to  them ;  indeed,  they  may  some  day 
be  held  accountable  for  its  defects.  However  this  may  be,  we  in- 
vite them  to  turn  the  pages  of  these  last  volumes  ;  let  them  heap 
their  most  bitter  criticisms  on  our  work,  and  pour  out  upon  us  the 
vials  of  their  wrath  ;  we  are  ready  to  forgive  them  anything  for  a 
single  good  and  valuable  observation.  If  they  will  but  acknowl- 
edge that  we  have  exhibited  a  consistent  respect  and  veneration 
for  two  things  which  make  for  social  happiness,  and  are  alone 
truly  worthy  to  be  extolled,  —  namely  Virtue  and  Truth,  —  they 
will  find  us  quite  indifferent  to  their  unkind  imputations.  .   .  . 

Among  Rousseau's  writings  the  most  permanently 
influential  is  his  Entile,  or  Education}    This  opens  with 

1  There  is  an  abridged  translation  by  W.  H.  Payne  of  this  interesting 
work,  issued,  in  the  International  Educational  Series  (Appleton,  1893), 
in  one  volume. 


1 88  Readings  in  Modern  EiLropean  History 

his  protest  against  the  artificiahty  of  the  civiHzation 
which  he  saw  about  him,  and  his  oft-repeated  exhortation 
to  return  to  nature  as  the  safest  guide. 

90.  Rous-  All  things  are  good  as  their  Author  made  them,  but  every- 

seau's  sum-  thj^g  degenerates  in  the  hands  of  man.    By  man  our  native 

turnback      soil  is  forced  to  nourish  plants  brought  from  foreign  regions, 

to  nature       and  one  tree  is  made  to  bear  the  fruit  of  another.    Man  brings 

about  a  general  confusion  of  elements,  climates,  and  seasons ; 

he  mutilates  his  dogs,  his  horses,  and  his  slaves  ;  he  defaces  and 

confounds  everything,  and  seems  to  delight  only  in  monsters 

and  deformity.    He  is  not  content  with  anything  as  Nature  left 

it,  not  even  with  man,  whom  he  must  train  for  his  service  like 

a  saddle  horse,  and  twist  in  his  own  particular  way  like  a  tree 

in  his  garden. 

Yet  without  this  interference  matters  would  be  still  worse 
than  they  are,  for  our  species  cannot  remain  half  made  over. 
As  things  now  are,  a  man  left  to  himself  from  his  birth  would, 
in  his  association  with  others,  prove  the  most  preposterous 
creature  possible.  The  prejudices,  authority,  necessity,  and 
example,  and,  in  short,  the  vicious  social  institutions  in  which 
we  find  ourselves  submerged,  would  stifle  everything  natural 
in  him  and  yet  give  him  nothing  in  return.  He  would  be  like 
a  shrub  which  has  sprung  up  by  accident  in  the  middle  of 
the  highway  to  perish  by  being  thrust  this  way  and  that  and 
trampled  upon  by  passers-by.  .  .  . 

To  form  this  rare  creature,  man,  what  have  we  to  do  ?  Much, 
doubtless,  but  chiefly  to  prevent  anything  being  done.  ...  In 
the  natural  order  of  things,  all  men  being  equal,  their  common 
vocation  is  manhood,  and  whoever  is  well  trained  for  that 
cannot  fulfill  any  vocation  badly  which  demands  manhood. 
Whether  my  pupil  be  destined  for  the  army,  the  Church,  or 
the  bar,  concerns  me  but  little.  Before  he  is  called  to  the 
career  chosen  by  his  parents.  Nature  summons  him  to  the 
duties  of  human  life.  To  live  is  the  trade  I  wish  to  teach 
him.  ...  All  our  wisdom  consists  in  servile  prejudices;  all 
our  customs  are  but  suggestion,  anxiety,  and  constraint.  Civ- 
ilized man  is  born,  lives,  dies  in  a  state  of  slavery.    At  his  birth 


TJie  Spirit  of  Reform  1 89 

he  is  sewed  in  swaddling  clothes ;  at  his  death  he  is  nailed  in 
a  coffin  ;  and  as  long  as  he  preserves  the  human  form  he  is 
fettered  by  our  institutions.  It  is  said  that  nurses  sometimes 
claim  to  give  the  infant's  head  a  better  form  by  kneading  it, 
and  we  permit  them  to  do  this  !  It  would  appear  that  our 
heads  were  badly  fashioned  by  the  Author  of  Nature,  and  that 
they  need  to  be  made  over  outwardly  by  the  midwife  and 
inwardly  by  philosophers  !  The  Caribbeans  are  more  fortunate 
than  we  by  half.  .  .  .  Observe  Nature  and  follow  the  path 
she  traces  for  you  ! 

Rousseau  closes  his  Social  Contract  with  a  chapter 
on  "civil  religion."  Roman  Catholic  Christianity  he 
regarded  as  very  noxious  to  the  State  :  even  the  Chris- 
tianity that  he  discovered  in  the  Gospels,  which  he  pro- 
fesses to  admire,  did  not,  he  believed,  help  to  make  good 
citizens,  but  rather,  on  the  contrary,  led  them  meekly  to 
suffer  tyranny. 

Christianity  is  a  purely  spiritual   religion,  occupied   solely  91-  Rous- 
with  heavenly  things  ;    the  country  of  a  Christian   is  not   of  ®®f^.® 
this  world.    He  does  his  duty,  it  is  true,  but  he  does  it  with  religion 
a  profound  indifference  as  to  the  good  or  ill  success  of  his 
efforts.    Provided  he  has  nothing  to  reproach  himself  with,  it 
matters  little  to  him  whether  things  go  well  or  ill  here  below. 
If  the  state  is  flourishing,  he  scarcely  dares  enjoy  the  public 
felicity ;  he  fears  to  become  proud  of  the  glory  of  his  country. 
If  the  state  degenerates,  he  blesses  the  hand  of  God  which  lies 
heavy  upon  his  people.  .  .  . 

Should  the  depository  of  political  power  abuse  it,  the  Chris- 
tian regards  this  abuse  as  the  rod  with  which  God  punishes  his 
children.  People  would  have  scruples  about  driving  out  the 
usurper :  it  would  be  necessary  to  disturb  the  public  repose, 
to  use  violence,  to  shed  blood  ;  all  this  accords  ill  with  the 
gentleness  of  the  Christian,  and,  after  all,  what  matters  it 
whether  one  is  a  slave  or  free  in  this  vale  of  misery?  The 
essential  thing  is  to  go  to  paradise,  and  resignation  is  but  one 
more  means  to  accomplish  it. 


190  Readings  in  Modern  Europeaii  History 

Should  some  foreign  war  supervene,  the  citizens  march  to 
combat  without  difficulty.  None  among  them  think  of  flying ; 
they  do  their  duty,  but  without  passion  for  victory ;  they 
know  better  how  to  die  than  to  win.  Whether  they  are  victors 
or  vanquished,  what  matters  it?  Does  not  Providence  know 
better  than  they  what  they  need?  .  .  . 

But  I  am  in  error  in  speaking  of  a  Christian  republic  ;  each 
of  these  words  excludes  the  other.  Christianity  preaches  only 
servitude  and  dependence.  Its  spirit  is  too  favorable  to  tyranny 
not  to  be  taken  advantage  of  by  it.  Christians  are  made  to  be 
slaves  :  they  know  it  and  do  not  care  ;  this  short  life  has  too 
little  value  in  their  eyes.  .  .  . 
A  civil  There  is,  however,  a  profession  of  faith  purely  civil,  of  which 

religion  -^  -g  ^^  sovereign's  [i.e.  the  people's]  duty  to  decide  upon  the 

articles,  not  precisely  as  dogmas  of  religion,  but  as  sentiments 
of  sociality  without  which  it  is  impossible  to  be  a  good  citizen 
or  a  faithful  subject.  Without  being  able  to  oblige  any  one  to 
believe  them,  the  sovereign  can  banish  from  the  State  whoever 
does  not  believe  them ;  the  sovereign  should  banish  him,  not 
as  impious,  but  as  unsocial,  as  incapable  of  loving  law  and  jus- 
tice sincerely,  and  of  sacrificing  at  need  his  life  to  his  duty. 
If  any  one,  having  publicly  acknowledged  these  dogmas,  con- 
ducts himself  as  if  he  did  not  acknowledge  them,  he  should 
be  punished  with  death  ;  he  has  committed  the  greatest  of 
crimes,  —  he  has  lied  before  the  law. 
The  dogmas  The  dogmas  of  civil  religion  should  be  simple,  few  in  number, 

of  Rousseau's  announced  with  precision,  without  explanation  or  commentary. 
The  existence  of  a  powerful,  intelligent,  benevolent,  prescient, 
and  provident  divinity,  the  life  to  come,  the  happiness  of  the 
just,  the  punishment  of  the  wicked,  the  sacredness  of  the  social 
contract  and  the  law,  —  these  are  the  positive  dogmas. 
Danger  of  As  to  the  negative  dogmas,  I  limit  them  to  one,  —  intoler- 

intolerance  ance  :  it  enters  into  the  religions  which  we  have  excluded. 
Those  who  make  a  distinction  between  civil  intolerance  and 
theological  intolerance  deceive  themselves,  to  my  mind.  These 
two  intolerances  are  inseparable.  It  is  impossible  to  live  in 
peace  with  people  whom  one  believes  to  be  damned ;  to  love 
them   is   to   hate   God,   who    punishes   them ;    they   must   be 


The  spirit  of  Reform  191 

redeemed  or  else  tortured.  Wherever  theological  intolerance 
is  admitted,  it  must  have  some  civil  effects ;  and  as  soon  as  it 
has  them  the  sovereign  is  no  more  a  sovereign,  even  in  tempo- 
ral matters.  From  that  time  priests  are  the  true  masters ; 
kings  are  but  their  officers. 

Montesquieu  believed  that  the  English  owed  their 
liberty  to  the  fact  that  the  three  powers  of  government, 
namely  the  legislative,  the  executive,  and  the  judiciary, 
were  not  in  the  same  hands,  as  in  some  of  the  European 
States.  This  theory  of  the  three  powers,  and  of  the 
necessity  of  keeping  them  separate,  exercised  a  great 
influence  upon  those  who  drew  up  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States. 

In  every  government  there  are  three  sorts  of  powers.  ...  92.  Montes- 

By  virtue  of  the  first,  the  prince,  or  magistrate,  enacts  tem-  qu^^u's 

1  1  f  1  1  11        theory  of  the 

porary  or  perpetual  laws,  and  amends  or  abrogates  those  that  x\ix^Q  powers 

have  been  already  enacted.    By  the  second,  he  makes  peace  (from  The 

or   war,  sends   or   receives   embassies,  establishes   the   public  Spirit  of 

security,   and   provides   against   invasions.    By   the   third,   he     ^"'^^ 

punishes   criminals,    or    determines    the   disputes    that    arise 

between  individuals.  .  .  . 

The  political  liberty  of  the  subject  is  a  tranquillity  of  mind 
due  to  the  assurance  each  person  has  of  his  safety.  In  order 
to  have  this  liberty,  it  is  requisite  that  the  government  be  so 
constituted  that  no  man  need  be  afraid  of  another. 

When  the  legislative  and  executive  powers  are  united  in  the 
same  person,  or  in  the  same  body  of  magistrates,  there  can  be 
no  liberty,  because  apprehensions  may  arise  lest  the  same 
monarch  or  senate  should  enact  tyrannical  laws,  and  then 
execute  them  in  a  tyramiical  manner. 

Again,  there  is  no  liberty  if  the  judiciary  power  be  not 
separated  from  the  legislative  and  executive.  Were  it  joined 
with  the  legislative,  the  life  and  liberty  of  the  subject  would 
be  exposed  to  arbitrary  control;  for  the  judge  would  be  then 
the  legislator.  Were  it  joined  to  the  executive  power,  the 
judge  might  behave  with  violence  and  oppression. 


192  Readings  in  Modem  Eii^vpcan  History 

There  would  be  an  end  of  everything,  were  the  same  man, 
or  the  same  body,  whether  of  the  nobles  or  of  the  people,  to 
exercise  those  three  powers,  —  that  of  enacting  laws,  that  of 
executing  the  public  resolutions,  and  that  of  trying  the  suits 
of  individuals. 

Most  kingdoms  in  Europe  enjoy  a  moderate  government, 
because  the  prince  who  is  invested  with  the  two  first  powers 
leaves  the  third  to  his  subjects.  In  Turkey,  where  these  three 
powers  are  united  in  the  sultan's  person,  the  subjects  groan 
under  the  most  dreadful  oppression. 

In  the  republics  of  Italy,  where  these  three  powers  are 
united,  there  is  less  liberty  than  in  our  monarchies.  Hence 
their  government  is  obhged  to  have  recourse  to  as  violent 
methods  for  its  support  as  even  that  of  the  Turks ;  witness 
the  state  inquisitors,  and  the  lion's  mouth  into  which  every 
informer  may  at  all  hours  throw  his  written  accusations. 

In  what  a  situation  must  the  poor  subject  be,  under  those 
republics  !  The  same  body  of  magistrates  are  possessed,  as 
executors  of  the  laws,  of  the  whole  power  they  have  given 
themselves  in  the  quality  of  legislators.  They  may  plunder  the 
State  by  their  general  determinations ;  and,  as  they  have  like- 
wise the  judiciary  power  in  their  hands,  every  private  citizen 
may  be  ruined  by  their  particular  decisions. 

The  whole  power  is  here  united  in  one  body ;  and  though 
there  is  no  external  pomp  that  indicates  a  despotic  sway,  yet 
the  people  feel  the  effects  of  it  every  moment. 

Hence  it  is  that  many  of  the  princes  of  Europe,  whose  aim 
has  been  arbitrary  power,  have  constantly  set  out  with  uniting 
in  their  own  persons  all  the  branches  of  magistracy  and  all  the 
great  offices  of  State. 

The  following  extracts  from  Beccaria's  Treatise  upon 
Crimes  ajid  Pimishments  give  an  admirable  idea  of  the 
clearness  and  cogency  of  his  reasoning  and  the  simplicity 
and  directness  of  his  style. 

What  are  in  general  the  proper  punishments  for  crimes?  Is 
the  punishment  of  death  really  useful  or  necessary  for  the  safety 


The  spirit  of  Reform  193 

or  good  order  of  society?    Are  tortures  and  torments  consistent  93.  Extracts 
with  justice,  or  do  they  answer  the  end  proposed  by  the  laws?  ^roni  Becca- 
Which  is  the  best  method  of  preventing  crimes  ?    Are  the  same  J^  ^ 
punishments  equally  useful  at  all  times?    What  influence  have  Crimes  and 
they  on  morals?    These  problems  should  be  solved  with  that  Punishments 
geometrical  precision  which  the  mist  of  sophistry,  the  seduction 
of  eloquence,  and  the  timidity  of  doubt  are  unable  to  resist. 

If  I  have  no  other  merit  than  that  of  having  first  presented 
to  my  country  with  a  greater  degree  of  evidence  what  other 
nations  have  written  and  are  beginning  to  practice,  I  shall 
account  myself  fortunate ;  but  if,  by  supporting  the  rights  of 
mankind  and  of  invincible  truth,  I  shall  contribute  to  save 
from  the  agonies  of  death  one  unfortunate  victim  of  tyranny 
or  of  ignorance,  equally  fatal,  his  blessing  and  tears  of  trans- 
port will  be  a  sufficient  consolation  to  me  for  the  contempt 
of  mankind.  .  .  . 

It  is  evident  that  the  intent  of  punishments  is  not  to  torment 
a  sensitive  being  nor  to  undo  a  crime  already  committed.  Is  it 
possible  that  torments  and  useless  cruelty,  the  instruments  of 
furious  fanaticism  or  of  the  impotency  of  tyrants,  can  be  author- 
ized by  a  political  body  which,  so  far  from  being  influenced  by 
passion,  should  be  the  cool  moderator  of  the  passions  of  indi- 
viduals? Can  the  groans  of  a  tortured  wretch  recall  the  time 
past  or  reverse  the  crime  he  has  committed? 

The  end  of  punishment  therefore  is  no  other  than  to  prevent 
others  from  committing  the  like  offense.  Such  punishments, 
therefore,  and  such  a  mode  of  inflicting  them  ought  to  be 
chosen  as  will  make  strongest  and  most  lasting  impressions 
on  the  minds  of  others  with  the  least  torment  to  the  body  of 
the  criminal.  .  .  . 

The  torture  of  a  criminal  during  the  course  of  his  trial  is  a  Use  of  torture 
cruelty  consecrated  by  custom  in  most  nations.  It  is  used  with 
an  intent  either  to  make  him  confess  his  crime  or  explain  some 
contradictions  into  which  he  has  been  led  during  his  examina- 
tion ;  or  discover  his  accomplices ;  or  for  some  kind  of  meta- 
physical and  incomprehensible  purgation  of  infamy  ;  or  finally, 
in  order  to  discover  other  crimes  of  which  he  is  not  accused, 
but  of  which  he  may  be  guilty. 


194  Readings  in  Modern  European  History 

No  man  can  be  judged  a  criminal  until  he  be  found  guilty; 
nor  can  society  take  from  him  the  public  protection  until  it 
has  been  proved  that  he  has  violated  the  conditions  on  which 
it  was  granted.  What  right,  then,  but  that  of  mere  power  can 
authorize  the  punishment  of  a  citizen  so  long  as  there  remains 
any  doubt  of  his  guilt?  The  following  dilemma  is  a  frequent 
one  !  Either  he  is  guilty  or  not  guilty.  If  guilty,  he  should 
only  suffer  the  punishment  ordained  by  the  laws,  and  torture 
becomes  useless,  as  his  confession  is  unnecessary.  If  he  be  not 
guilty,  you  torture  the  innocent ;  for  in  the  eye  of  the  law  every 
man  is  innocent  whose  crime  has  not  been  proved.  .  .  . 

A  very  strange  but  necessary  consequence  of  the  use  of  tor- 
ture is  that  the  plight  of  the  innocent  is  worse  than  that  of  the 
guilty.  With  regard  to  the  first,  either  he  confesses  the  crime 
which  he  has  not  committed  and  is  condemned,  or  he  is 
acquitted  and  has  suffered  a  punishment  he  did  not  deserve. 
On  the  contrary,  the  person  who  is  really  guilty  has  the  most 
favorable  side  of  the  question  ;  for  if  he  supports  the  torture 
with  firmness  and  resolution,  he  is  acquitted  and  is  the  gainer, 
having  exchanged  a  greater  punishment  for  a  less.  .  .  . 
Arguments  The  punishment  of  death  is  pernicious  to  society  from  the 
against  examples  of  barbarity  it  affords.  If  the  passions  or  the  neces- 
pun^Siment  ^^^7  ^^  ^^'^^  ^^^^  taught  men  to  shed  the  blood  of  their  fellow- 
creatures,  the  laws,  which  are  intended  to  moderate  the  ferocity 
of  mankind,  should  not  increase  it  by  examples  of  barbarity,  — 
the  more  horrible  since  this  punishment  is  usually  attended 
with  formal  pageantry.  Is  it  not  absurd  that  the  laws  which 
detect  and  punish  homicide  should,  in  order  to  prevent  murder, 
publicly  commit  murder  themselves? 

What  are  the  true  and  most  useful  laws?  Those  compacts 
and  conditions  which  all  would  propose  and  observe  in  those 
moments  when  private  interest  is  silent  or  combined  with  that 
of  the  public.  What  are  the  natural  sentiments  of  every  person 
concerning  the  punishment  of  death?  We  may  read  them  in 
the  contempt  and  indignation  with  which  every  one  looks  on 
the  executioner,  who  is  nevertheless  an  innocent  executor  of  the 
public  will,  a  good  citizen  who  contributes  to  the  advantage  of 
society,  the  instrument  of  the  general  security  within  as  good 


The  Spirit  of  Reform  195 

soldiers  are  without.  What,  then,  is  the  origin  of  this  contra- 
diction ?  Why  is  this  sentiment  of  mankind  indelible,  however 
one  may  reason?  It  is  because  in  a  secret  comer  of  the  mind, 
in  which  the  original  impressions  of  nature  are  still  preserved, 
men  discover  a  sentiment  which  tells  them  that  their  lives  are 
not  lawfully  in  the  power  of  any  one,  but  of  that  necessity  only 
which  with  its  iron  scepter  rules  the  universe.  .  .  . 

If  it  be  objected  that  almost  all  nations  in  all  ages  have 
punished  certain  crimes  with  death,  I  answer  that  the  force 
of  these  examples  vanishes  when  opposed  to  truth  against  which 
prescription  is  urged  in  vain.  The  history  of  mankind  is  an 
immense  sea  of  errors  in  which  a  few  obscure  truths  may  here 
and  there  be  found.  .  .  .  That  some  societies  only,  either  few  The  past  full 
in  number  or  for  a  very  short  time,  have  abstained  from  the  °^  mistakes 
punishment  of  death  is  rather  favorable  to  my  argument,  for 
such  is  the  fate  of  great  truths  that  their  duration  is  only  as  a 
flash  of  lightning  in  the  long  dark  night  of  error.  The  happy 
time  has  not  yet  arrived  when  truth,  as  falsehood  has  been 
hitherto,  shall  be  the  portion  of  the  greatest  number. 

I  am  sensible  that  the  voice  of  one  philosopher  is  too  weak 
to  be  heard  amidst  the  clamors  of  a  multitude  blindly  influenced 
by  custom ;  but  there  is  a  small  number  of  sages  scattered  on 
the  face  of  the  earth  who  will  echo  me  from  the  bottom  of 
their  hearts ;  and  if  these  truths  should  happily  force  their 
way  to  the  thrones  of  princes,  be  it  known  to  them  that  they 
come  attended  with  the  secret  wishes  of  all  mankind  ;  and  tell 
the  sovereign  that  deigns  them  a  gracious  reception  that  his 
fame  shall  outshine  the  glory  of  conquerors,  and  that  equitable 
posterity  will  exalt  his  peaceful  trophies  above  those  of  a  Titus, 
an  Antoninus,  or  a  Trajan. 

How  happy  were  mankind  if  laws  were  now  to  be  first  formed,  The  benev- 
now  that  we  see  on  the  thrones  of  Europe  benevolent  monarchs,  °^^"*  despots 
friends  to  the  virtues  of  peace,  to  the  arts  and  sciences,  fathers 
of  their  people,  though  crowned,  yet  citizens ;  the  increase  of 
whose  authority  augments  the  happiness  of  their  subjects  by 
destroying  that  intermediate  despotism  which  intercepts  the 
prayers  of  the  people  to  the  throne.  If  these  humane  princes 
have  suffered  the  old  laws  to  subsist,  it  is  doubtless  because 


196  Readings  in  Modern  Enropeaii  History 

they  are  disturbed  by  the  numberless  obstacles  which  oppose 
the  subversion  of  errors  by  the  sanction  of  many  ages ;  and 
therefore  every  wise  citizen  will  wish  for  the  increase  of  their 
authority.   .   .  . 

Would  you  prevent  crimes  ?  Let  the  laws  be  clear  and  simple  ; 
let  the  entire  force  of  the  nation  be  united  in  their  defense ; 
let  them  be  intended  rather  to  favor  every  individual  than  any 
particular  classes  of  men ;  let  the  laws  be  feared  and  the  laws 
only.  .  .  . 

From  what  I  have  written,  results  the  following  general  theo- 
rem of  considerable  utility,  though  not  conformable  to  Custom, 
the  common  legislator  of  nations  :  That  a  punishment  may  not 
be  an  act  of  violence^  of  one  or  of  ma7iy\  against  a  p7'ivate  7?iem- 
ber  of  society  ;  it  should  be  public^  immediate^  and  necessajy  ; 
the  least  possible  in  the  case  given  ;  proportioned  to  the  crime ^ 
and  determined  by  the  laws. 

The  development  of  political  economy  in  the  latter 
part  of  the  eighteenth  century  and  the  reasons  that  led 
men  to  study  it  are  described  by  the  Abbe  Morellet,  a 
man  of  letters  who  wrote  a  pamphlet  in  1764  to  defend 
the  liberty  of  writing,  against  a  declaration  of  the  French 
government  issued  in  that  year,  forbidding  any  one  to 
print  or  sell  anything  dealing  with  or  criticising  the 
financial  policy  of  the  king's  ministers. 

94.  The  Do  we  know  everything?    Are  we  as  well  off  as  we  can  be? 

development  These  are  the  questions  that  should  have  been  asked  before 
economy  in  issuing  a  decree  of  silence  against  all  discussions  relating  to  the 
the  eight-  administration.  If  we  were  quite  sure  that  we  had  discovered 
the  true  principles  of  that  very  important  science  called  politi- 
cal economy,  we  ought  still  to  permit  people  to  write,  if  for 
no  other  reason  than  to  defend  these  principles  against  their 
obscuration  by  a  taste  for  mere  novelty,  the  natural  restlessness 
of  the  human  mind,  and  the  passing  whims  of  the  government 
officials.  Nevertheless,  if  all  the  principles  of  political  econ- 
omy were  well  established,  the  government  might  justify,  in  a 
tolerably  plausible  way,  their   law  of   silence   by  urging  that 


eenth 
century 


TJie  spirit  of  Reform  197 

since  the  State  and  the  people  are  in  a  good  condition,  it  is 
useless  to  look  for  better  things,  which  mankind  may  perhaps 
never  attain  to. 

But  there  are  no  States  which  are  not  as  yet  infinitely  remote 
from  this  happy  condition  ;  and  we  may  safely  say  that  the  chief 
obstacle  which  stands  in  the  way  of  their  reaching  it  is  the  very 
ignorance  of  the  true  principles  of  government,  and  the  bad 
laws  that  this  same  ignorance  has  begotten.  The  proof  that 
this  ignorance  exists  is  to  be  sought,  I  believe,  in  the  obscurity 
which  still  envelops  a  great  part  of  the  terms  of  which  the  sci- 
ence of  political  economy  is  continually  obliged  to  make  use. 
So  far  as  I  can  see,  we  attach  in  our  language  no  definite  and 
precise  ideas  to  the  words  ''commerce,"  "wealth,"  "traffic," 
"  credit,"  "  luxury,"  "  liberty,"  "  property,"  etc.  A  few  persons, 
I  am  quite  willing  to  concede,  may  have  a  right  notion  of  the 
meaning  of  these  abstract  terms  ;  it  must,  however,  be  admitted 
that  their  meaning  is  not  familiar  to  all  or  generally  accepted  ; 
and  how  can  the  principles  of  a  science  be  well  understood  and 
established  so  long  as  its  terms  are  neither  clear  nor  fixed?  .  .  . 

If  we  look  for  the  reasons  for  our  ignorance,  we  shall  readily 
discover  two  very  important  ones  which  well  justify  what  we 
are  saying  of  the  necessity  of  writing  on  these  vital  questions. 
The  first  of  these  is  the  extreme  difficulty  of  the  problems 
raised  by  political  economy ;  the  second  is  the  newness  of 
this  study  not  only  in  France  but  among  all  the  most  enlight- 
ened nations. 

We  venture  to  say  at  the  very  start  that  the  search  for  the  Difficulty  of 
true  principles  of  political  economy  is  one  of  the  most  difficult  ^^^  subject  of 

J  1-  11-  r     1  •  rr-,  .  political 

and  complicated  objects  of  human  pursuit.  Ihere  is  no  eco-  economy 
nomic  question  that  does  not  present  a  vast  number  of  aspects 
at  the  same  moment,  and  no  measure  can  be  adopted  in 
this  field  without  its  consequences  affecting  the  whole  body 
politic.  A  law  relating  to  finance  or  commerce  influences 
agriculture,  navigation,  population,  industry,  etc.  This  multi- 
tude of  relations  may  well  cause  a  law  that  appears  expedient 
for  such  and  such  an  object  to  be  very  prejudicial  in  other 
respects.  Surrounded  by  these  difficulties,  how  can  the  mind 
reach  the  truth  unless  it  is  assisted  in  its  investigations,  and 


econom\-  a 
new  study 


198  Readings  in  Modern  European  History 

aided  in  every  possible  way  in  clearing  up  its  uncertainties. 
But  where  is  such  aid  to  be  sought  so  abundantly  as  in  printed 
books,  in  the  education  which  these  serve  to  disseminate,  and 
in  the  men  who  form  their  opinions  from  reading  them? 
Political  I  have  already  called  attention  to  the  fact  that  this  branch  of 

knowledge  has  only  been  cultivated  for  a  very  short  period.  It 
is  well  known  that  before  the  last  century  commerce,  in  the 
widest  sense  of  that  word,  was  not  regarded  as  in  any  way  an 
affair  of  the  State.  The  ancient  authors  scarcely  advert  to  it  at 
all.  Xenophon,  who  touches  upon  the  matter,  doubts  whether 
it  has  any  advantage  for  the  State,  and  Plato  excludes  it  from 
his  ideal  republic.  Even  the  Italians  of  past  centuries  have 
not  discussed  the  subject,  and  as  we  descend  the  centuries  and 
reach  those  nearest  us  it  becomes  clear  how  recent  are  the  first 
works  dealing  with  political  economy. 

Very  few  antedate  John  de  Witt,  who  wrote  in  the  middle 
of  the  last  century.  The  first  English  economic  works  belong 
to  the  same  period.  In  France,  one  of  the  first  where  one  finds 
sound  conclusions  is  the  Detail  de  la  Fraiice  of  Boisguillebert, 
published  in  1695.  From  that  time  to  the  middle  of  our  cen- 
tury there  were  only  a  few  works  in  this  field,  and  these  remained 
unknown,  if  we  except  Melon's  Essay  on  Covifnerce  in  1730. 
Finally,  about  1750,  the  publication  of  Cantillon's  excellent 
Essay  on  Comme?re  in  General^  some  translations  from  the 
English,  such  as  Child's  book  edited  by  the  late  M.  de  Gournay 
(as  well  as  a  few  other  works  composed  or  published  at  the 
instigation  of  that  worthy  official),  served  as  a  signal  for  the 
development  of  the  subject  in  France.  Our  knowledge  in  this 
field  is  thus  so  recent  that  it  is  quite  impossible  to  conclude 
that  enough  has  already  been  written. 

Of  course  it  will  be  pointed  out  that  a  great  number  of  eco- 
nomic works  have  been  published  during  the  past  ten  years  in 
which  many  important  truths  have  been  set  forth.  While  I  am 
far  from  grudging  the  writers  of  these  works  the  tribute  of 
esteem  and  gratitude  which  they  deserve  for  applying  them- 
selves to  the  study  of  those  truths  which  it  is  especially  impor- 
tant for  men  to  know,  I  still  venture  to  ask  whether  in  spite  of 
all  these  useful  books  enough  has  already  been  said.  .  .  . 


The  Spirit  of  Reform  1 99 

I  am  aware  that  according  to  some  writers  of  repute  our  The  doctrine 
century  has  taken  a  great  step  forward  in  raising  commercial  0/ economic 
liberty  to  the  rank  of  a  principle  and  condemning  accordingly 
all  economic  laws  which  interfere  with  the  rights  of  property 
and  freedom  in  industrial  enterprises.  It  is  maintained  that 
this  truth  alone,  when  properly  developed,  with  all  its  necessary 
consequences,  would  almost  suffice  by  itself  as  a  guide  for  the 
government.  I,  too,  believe  that  this  principle  of  economic 
liberty  is  a  faithful  guide  which  will  never  mislead,  but  it  can- 
not, nevertheless,  by  itself,  serve  sufficiently  to  illuminate  the 
path  which  the  government  should  follow.  It  is  a  long  way 
from  a  recognition  of  this  one  principle,  true  as  it  may  be,  to 
a  complete  system  of  political  economy.  .  .  . 

The  determination  of  the  best  basis  for  the  taxes  and  the  best  Political 

way  to  collect  them,  the  discovery  of  the  laws  best  adapted  to  economy  and 
1  -1111^11  1  •  1     social  reform 

lessen  gradually  and  finally  prevent  those  monstrous  mequal- 

ities  in  wealth,  that  destructive  vice  of  all  States,  —  the  solution 
of  these  and  many  other  problems  not  less  important  do  not 
depend  upon  this  principle  of  commercial  freedom,  but  upon 
an  analytical  knowledge  of  the  whole  organization  of  society 
and  a  complete  theory  of  political  economy.  Now,  so  long  as 
such  a  theory  has  not  yet  been  formulated,  the  science  will  not 
have  attained  such  a  degree  of  perfection  as  it  demands.  The 
system  upon  which  the  social  world  is  constructed  must  be 
discovered  and  set  forth  as  Copernicus  and  Newton  have  dis- 
covered that  of  the  physical  universe.  This  problem  must  be 
solved  ere  the  science  of  political  economy  can  be  said  to 
have  been  completed,  and  we  do  not  hesitate  to  repeat  that 
it  still  remains  unsolved. 


CHAPTER  X 

THE  ENLIGHTENED  DESPOTS  OF  THE  EIGHTEENTH 
CENTURY 

Section  JO.    Reforms  of  Frederick  II,  Catherine  II, 
Joseph  II,  and  Charles  III 

Riesbeck  (i 750-1 786),  a  German  writer  of  some  note, 
has  left  an  interesting  and  amusing  account  of  Germany 
in  his  time.  He  thus  describes  the  manner  in  which 
the  duke  of  Wiirtemberg,  after  a  hfe  of  self-indulgence, 
announced  at  the  age  of  fifty  that  he  proposed  to  mend 
his  ways  and  become  a  typical  benevolent  despot. 

In  1778  this  worthy  prince  took  the  opportunity  of  his  birth- 
day to  publish  a  manifesto  of  which  the  following  is  the  sub- 
stance :  ''  Being  a  man,  and,  from  the  condition  of  my  nature, 
far  removed  from  the  standard  of  perfection,  and  likely  to 
remain  so,  it  could  not  but  fall  out  that,  partly  from  the  weak- 
ness incidental  to  human  nature,  and  partly  from  the  want  of 
sufficient  sagacity,  and  other  causes,  many  events  should  have 
taken  place,  which,  had  they  not  happened,  things  would  have 
been  very  different  from  what  they  now  are,  or  are  likely  to  be 
hereafter.  This  I  acknowledge  freely,  as  it  is  the  duty  of  every 
upright-thinking  mind  to  do,  and  the  consideration  of  it  re- 
minds me  of  duties  obligatory  for  every  man,  but  still  more  so 
for  the  anointed  of  the  Lord  upon  earth. 

"  I  consider  this  day,  in  which  I  have  entered  into  my  fiftieth 
year,  as  beginning  the  second  period  of  my  existence.  I  assure 
my  loving  subjects  that  every  successive  year  of  life  which 
it  shall  please  Divine  Providence  to  bestow,  shall  be  dedicated 
to  the  promotion  of  their  happiness.     Henceforward  shall  the 


Enlightened  Despots  of  the  Eighteenth  Century     201 

prcsperity  of  Wiirtemberg  be  established  on  the  joint  and  firm 
basis  of  the  sovereign's  love  for  his  people  and  of  the  people's 
confidence  in  the  affection  of  their  sovereign.  A  subject  who 
thinks  as  he  ought  to  do,  will  see  that  many  circumstances 
must  arise  in  which  the  good  of  the  individual  must  give  way 
to  the  good  of  the  whole,  and  will  not  murmur  if  things  do  not 
always  take  the  turn  which  he  would  have  wished  them  to  do. 
We  trust  that  every  man  will,  for  the  future,  live  in  the  confi- 
dence that  he  has  a  provident  and  anxious  father  in  his  prince 
—  yes,  may  the  contest  who  shall  do  most  to  make  his  native 
country  happy,  be  from  this  day  forth  the  only  contest  that 
ever  arises  between  us." 

The  duke  is  now  quite  a  philosopher ;  he  founds  schools, 
he  farms,  cultivates  arts  and  sciences,  and  establishes  manufac- 
tures ;  in  short,  he  endeavors  in  every  way  possible  to  make  up 
for  what  has  been  wrong. 

Many  causes  had  contributed  to  lead  this  prince  astray  in 
the  earlier  parts  of  life,  and  to  give  his  mind,  which  was  nat- 
urally a  lively  and  impetuous  one,  a  false  direction.  Amongst 
the  foremost  we  may  reckon  the  fashion  of  the  times,  the  bad 
examples  set  him  by  the  courts  of  Mannheim  and  Dresden, 
the  taste  for  false  magnificence,  which  he  had  acquired  in  Italy, 
and  the  corruption  of  those  who  surrounded  him,  many  of 
whom,  I  am  ashamed  to  say  it,  were  French.  These  were 
the  causes  of  that  dissipation  of  which  Europe  has  heard 
so  much. 

The  consequences  were  such  as  might  naturally  have  been 
foreseen,  —  debt,  oppressive  taxes,  resistance  on  the  part  of  the 
estates  of  the  country,  and  finally  a  commission  of  inquiry  is- 
sued by  the  imperial  court.  The  debts,  upon  examination,  were 
found  to  amount  to  1,200,000  livres.  The  evil  counselors,  you 
may  think,  were  removed  ;  but  this  would  have  done  little  but 
for  the  change  which  about  this  time  took  place  in  most  of  the 
lesser  courts  of  the  empire,  the  princes  of  which,  from  being 
oppressive  and  expensive  tyrants,  suddenly  contracted  a  taste 
for  political  economy  and  philosophical  pursuits.  Into  these 
the  duke  ran  with  as  much  ardor  as  he  had  formerly  done 
into  juvenile  dissipation. 


202  Readi?igs  i7i  Modern  European  History 


duties  and 
responsi- 
bilities 


Frederick  the  Great  has  left  a  very  clear  and  excel- 
lent statement  of  his  conception  of  a  monarch's  duties 
and  responsibilities. 

96.  Frederick       With  respect  to  the  true  monarchical  government,  it  is  the 

the  Great's     ^^^^  ^^  ^^  worst  of  all  others,  according  as  it  is  administered. 

description  of        ,,,     ,  ,      ,     ,  ,  ,  ..     . 

a  king's  ^Ve  have  remarked  that  men  have  granted  preemmence  to 

one  of  their  equals,  in  expectation  that  he  should  do  them  cer- 
tain services.  These  services  consist  in  the  maintenance  of  the 
laws,  a  strict  execution  of  justice,  an  employment  of  his  whole 
powers  to  prevent  any  corruption  of  manners,  and  defending 
the  State  against  its  enemies.  It  is  the  duty  of  this  magistrate 
to  pay  attention  to  agriculture ;  it  should  be  his  care  that  pro- 
visions for  the  nation  should  be  in  abundance,  and  that  com- 
merce and  industry  should  be  encouraged.  He  is  a  perpetual 
sentinel,  who  must  watch  the  acts  and  the  conduct  of  the  ene- 
mies of  the  State.  His  foresight  and  prudence  should  form 
timely  alliances,  which  should  be  made  with  those  who  might 
most  conduce  to  the  interest  of  the  realm. 

By  this  short  abstract  the  various  branches  of  knowledge 
which  each  article  in  particular  requires  will  be  perceived.  To 
this  must  be  added  a  profound  study  of  the  local  situation  of 
that  country  which  it  is  the  magistrate's  duty  to  govern,  and  a 
perfect  knowledge  of  the  genius  of  the  nation ;  for  the  sover- 
eign who  sins  through  ignorance  is  as  culpable  as  he  who  sins 
through  malice  :  the  first  is  the  guilt  of  idleness,  the  latter  of  a 
vicious  heart ;  but  the  evil  that  results  to  society  is  the  same. 

Princes  and  monarchs,  therefore,  are  not  invested  with 
supreme  authority  that  they  may,  with  impunity,  riot  in  de- 
bauchery and  voluptuousness.  They  are  not  raised  by  their 
fellow-citizens  in  order  that  their  pride  may  pompously  display 
itself  and  contemptuously  insult  simplicity  of  manners,  poverty, 
and  wretchedness.  Government  is  not  intrusted  to  them  that 
they  may  be  surrounded  by  a  crowd  of  useless  people  whose 
idleness  engenders  every  vice.  .  .  . 

The  sovereign  is  attached  by  indissoluble  ties  to  the  body  of 
the  State  ;  hence  it  follows  that  he,  by  repercussion,  is  affected 
by  all  the  ills  which  afflict  his  subjects  ;  and  the  people,  in  like 


Enlightened  Despots  of  tJie  EighteentJi  Century     203 

manner,  suffer  from  the  misfortunes  which  affect  their  sover-  The  interest 
eign.    There  is  but  one  general  good,  which  is  that  of  the  State.  °^  *^^  "^°"' 

Tr    1  11  !-•  •  1       •  1  11  f         arch  and  of 

If  the  monarch  lose  his  provmces,  he  is  no  longer  able,  as  for-  his  state 
merly,  to  assist  his  subjects.  If  misfortune  has  obliged  him  to  identical 
contract  debts,  they  must  be  liquidated  by  the  poor  citizens ; 
and,  in  return,  if  the  people  are  not  numerous,  and  if  they  are 
oppressed  by  poverty,  the  sovereign  is  destitute  of  all  resource. 
These  are  truths  so  incontestable  that  there  is  no  need  to  insist 
on  them  further. 

I  once  more  repeat,  the  sovereign  represents  the  State  ;  he 
and  his  people  form  but  one  body,  which  can  only  be  happy 
as  far  as  united  by  concord.  The  prince  is  to  the  nation  he 
governs  what  the  head  is  to  the  man  ;  it  is  his  duty  to  see, 
think,  and  act  for  the  whole  community,  that  he  may  procure 
it  every  advantage  of  which  it  is  capable.  If  it  be  intended 
that  a  monarchical  should  excel  a  republican  government,  sen- 
tence is  pronounced  on  the  sovereign.  He  must  be  active, 
possess  integrity,  and  collect  his  w^hole  powers,  that  he  may  be 
able  to  run  the  career  he  has  commenced.  Here  follow  my 
ideas  concerning  his  duties. 

He  ought  to  procure  exact  and  circumstantial  information  Frederick's 

of  the  strength  and  weakness  of  his  country,  as  well  relative  to  "otioi^  o^^ 

°  />  1       1  1   prince's  duties 

pecuniary  resources  as  to  population,  finance,  trade,  laws,  and 

the  genius  of  the  nation  which  he  is  appointed  to  govern.  If 
the  laws  are  good,  they  will  be  clear  in  their  definitions  ;  other- 
wise chicanery  will  seek  to  elude  their  spirit  to  its  advan- 
tage, and  arbitrarily  and  irregularly  determine  the  fortunes  of 
individuals.  Lawsuits  ought  to  be  as  short  as  possible,  to 
prevent  the  ruin  of  the  litigants,  who  consume  in  useless 
expenses  w^hat  is  justly  and  duly  their  right.  This  branch 
of  government  cannot  be  too  carefully  watched,  that  every 
possible  barrier  may  be  opposed  to  the  avidity  of  judges 
and  counselors.  All  persons  should  be  kept  within  the  limits 
of  their  duty  by  occasional  visits  into  the  provinces.  Whoever 
imagines  himself  to  be  injured  will  venture  to  make  his  com- 
plaints to  the  commission,  and  those  who  are  found  to  be  guilty 
of  corruption  ought  to  be  severely  punished.  It  is  perhaps 
superfluous  to  add  that  the  penalty  ought  never  to  exceed  the 


204  Readiiigs  hi  Modern  European  History 

crime ;   that  violence  ought  never  to  supersede  law ;  and  that 

it  were  better  the  sovereign  should  be  too  merciful  than  too 

severe.  .  .  . 

Importance  of       But  neither  politics  nor  the  army  can  prosper  if  the  finances 

public  finance  ^^.g  ^^^  \^^\,  in  the  greatest  order,  and  if  the  prince  himself 

be  not  a  prudent  economist.    Money  is  like  the  wand  of  the 

necromancer,  for  by  its  aid  miracles  are  performed.    Grand 

political  views,  the  maintenance  of  the  military,  and  the  best 

conceived  plans  for  the  ease  of  the  people  will  all  remain  in 

a  lethargic  state  if  not  animated  by  money.  .  .   . 

Taxes  must  No  government  can  exist  without  taxation,  which  is  equally 

be  laid  to  pay  necessary  to  the  republic  and  to  the  monarchy.    The  sovereign 

public  1  •,        1  .  1  IT  1  -111  11-  1M 

servants  who  labors  in  the  public  cause  must  be  paid  by  the  public  ;  like- 

wise the  judge,  that  he  may  have  no  need  to  be  corrupt.  The 
soldier  must  be  supported  that  he  may  commit  no  violence 
for  want  of  having  whereon  to  subsist.  In  like  manner,  it  is 
necessary  that  those  persons  who  are  employed  in  collecting 
the  revenues  should  receive  such  salaries  as  may  not  lay  them 
under  any  temptation  to  rob  the  public.  These  various  ex- 
penses demand  very  considerable  sums,  and  to  these  must  still 
be  added  money  that  should  be  laid  apart  to  serve  solely  for 
extraordinary  exigencies. 
Taxes  should  This  money  must  all  necessarily  be  levied  on  the  people, 
'^^"^^  and  the  grand  art  consists  in  levying  so  as  not  to  oppress. 

That  taxes  may  be  equally  and  not  arbitrarily  laid  on,  surveys 
and  registers  should  be  made  by  which,  if  the  people  are 
properly  classed,  the  money  will  be  proportionate  to  the  income 
of  the  persons  paying.  This  is  a  thing  so  necessary  that  it  would 
be  an  unpardonable  fault  in  finance  if  ill-imposed  taxes  should 
disgust  the  husbandman  with  his  labors.  Having  performed  his 
duties  it  is  necessary  that  he  and  his  family  should  afterward 
live  in  a  certain  degree  of  ease.  .  .   . 

The  monarch  is  only  the  first  servant  of  the  State,  who  is 
obliged  to  act  with  probity  and  prudence,  and  to  remain  as 
totally  disinterested  as  if  he  were  each  moment  liable  to  render 
an  account  of  his  administration  to  his  fellow-citizens.  Thus  he  is 
culpable  if  he  be  prodigal  of  the  money  of  the  people,  dispers- 
ing the  produce  of  the  taxes  in  luxury,  pomp,  or  licentiousness. 


E7ilighte7ied  Despots  of  tJie  EigJitccntJi  Century     205 

It  is  for  him  to  watch  over  morals,  which  are  the  guardians 
of  the  laws,  and  to  improve  the  national  education  and  not 
pervert  it  by  ill  examples. 

As  the  sovereign  is  properly  the  head  of  a  family  of  citizens.  The  king 
the  father  of  his  people,  he  ought  on  all  occasions  to  be  the  ^J^^uid  aid 
last  refuge  of  the  unfortunate ;  to  be  the  parent  of  the  orphan  tunate 
and  the  husband  of  the  widow ;  to  have  as  much  pity  for  the 
lowest  wretch  as  for  the  greatest  courtier ;    and   to  shed  his 
benefactions  over  those  w^ho,  deprived  of  all  other  aid,  can 
only  find  succor  in  his  benevolence. 

Such,  according  to  the  principles  which  we  established  at  the 
beginning  of  this  essay,  is  the  most  accurate  conception  we  can 
form  of  the  duties  of  a  sovereign,  and  the  only  manner  which 
can  render  monarchical  government  good  and  advantageous. 

Frederick  the  Great  was  accustomed  to  examine  per- 
sonally, and  briefly  suggest  the  reply  to,  many  of  the 
petitions  sent  in  to  his  ministers.  The  spirit  of  his 
government  is  apparent  in  the  marginal  notes  he  made 

on  the  following : 

[/;/  the  king' s  ow7i  writing~\ 

Petition  from  Simon,  mer-  Forty  thousand  thalers  in-  97.  Com- 

chant  and  commercial  coun-      vested  in  commerce  will  bring  ^®^J^®  P* 

II  r.         •  1        11  1  -111  Fredenckthe 

seloratStettm,  to  be  allowed  to      m  8  percent,  m  landed  prop-  Great  on 

purchase  the  estate  of  Kraat-      erty   only   4.    So    this   man  various 
zen  for  40,000  thalers.  does  not  understand  his  own  ^^  ^  ^°^® 

business.  A  cobbler  should 
continue  a  cobbler ;  a  mer- 
chant should  think  of  his  trade, 
and  not  of  buying  estates.  , 

Petition  from  the  town  of  Why,  it  cannot  be  otherwise. 

Frankfort-on-Oder,  against  Do  they  think  that  I  can  put 
the  quartering  of  troops  upon  the  regiment  into  my  pocket? 
them.  The  barracks  shall  be  rebuilt. 

Petition  from  the  bakers  at  They  have  had  above  500 

Potsdam,  that  corn  from  the  measures  already.  Ce  sont  eles 
public  magazines  may  be  al-  Canailles.  Have  them  up  be- 
lowed  them.  fore  the  magistrate  ! 


206  Readings  in  Modern  European  History 


Petition  from  the  stocking 
weaver  Esche  for  the  sum  of 
3200  thalers,  due  to  him  on 
Saxon  revenue  bonds. 

Petition  from  Colonel  I 1 

that  he  may  be  stationed  in 
Silesia,  as  he  intends  to  pur- 
chase estates  in  that  province. 

Petition  from  the  inhabit- 
ants of  Potsdam,  to  assist 
them  in  paying  a  contribution 
of  32,000  thalers  levied  by 
the  Austrians. 

Petition  from  the  Kammer- 
herr  Baron  von  Miiller  for 
leave  to  visit  the  baths  at  Aix- 
la-Chapelle. 

Renewed  petition  from 
Baron  von  Miiller  for  leave 
to  visit  the  baths. 

Petition  for  the  expenses 
of  receiving  and  entertaining 
their  Highnesses  of  Brunswick 
on  their  visit  in  Prussia,  700 
thalers. 

Petition  from  the  creditors 
of  the  Count  Giannini  that  the 
dtXQgdite^  Judiciu7?i  which  had 
been  granted  at  their  request 
may  be  suspended. 

Petition  from  the  sickly  son 
of  the  deceased  Colonel  von 
Platho,  entreating  some  pen- 
sion or  provision. 

Complaint  of  the  Privy 
Councilor  von  Brandt  that 
several  of  the  colonists  whom 
he     sent     from    Ulm    have 


Paciencia  ! 


That  is  the  very  reason  why 
he  must  not  be  stationed  in  Si- 
lesia. He  would  improve  the 
estates  and  neglect  the  service. 

Let  them  look  to  paying 
their  own  debts.  I  shall  not 
give  that  rascally  rabble  a 
single  groschen. 

What  would  he  do  there? 
He  would  gamble  away  the 
little  money  he  has  left,  and 
come  back  like  a  beggar. 

Let  him  go  to  the  devil  ! 


Pay  it  this  once,  but  it  is  a 
scandalous  robbery.  Another 
time  I  shall  send  a  person  to 
keep  the  accounts. 

The  administration  of  jus- 
tice in  my  dominions  shall  in 
no  way  be  infringed  upon,  be- 
cause the  laws  must  govern  all. 

Why,  how  can  I  provide  for 
all  the  halt  and  the  blind  ? 


He  sent  me  people  who  had 
been  actors  and  hairdressers. 
Such  persons  are  of  no  use  in 
tilling  land. 


Enlightened  Despots  of  the  Eighteenth  Century     207 


returned  much  dissatisfied 
with  their  treatment. 

Petition  from  Forstmeister 
von  Poser  that  his  son  may 
not  be  forcibly  carried  off  to 
the  military  profession. 

Petition  from  Countess  Par- 
adis  that  her  son,  now  in  the 
"Bavarian  army,  may  receive  a 
commission  in  the  Prussian 
army,  with  the  view  that  the 
stricter  discipline  may  wean 
him  from  his  drunken  habits. 

Petition  from  the  merchant 
Hintze  for  permission  to  im- 
port io,ooQ  cwt.  of  copper, 
duty  free. 

Petition  from  the  appren- 
tice mason  Eichel  for  admis- 
sion to  the  rights  of  master 
mason  at  Berlin. 

Petition  from  the  Jew,  Meyer 
Benjamin,  at  Magdeburg,  for 
admission  to  equal  privileges 
with  Christian  tradesmen. 

Petition  from  Du  Moulin 
(lately  major  in  the  army) 
for  the  place  of  the  deceased 
Kriegesrath  Tschirner  at  the 
Pomeranian  Chamber. 

Petition  from  General  von 
Dierecke  that  his  brother-in- 
law,  von  Graven itz,  may  have 
leave  to  marry  the  daughter 
of  Ober-Inspector  Glaser. 

Petition  from  Privy  Coun- 
cilor von  Brandt  for  the  pay- 
ment of  his  account  —  postage 


He  will  be  better  educated 
in  a  regiment  than  in  a  village. 


I  look  out  for  good  officers, 
but  the  debauched  ones  I  send 
packing.  Such  people  of  what- 
ever rank  I  think  no  acquisi- 
tion to  my  service. 


Give  him  a  round  refusal. 


He  may  be  admitted  if 
there  are  not  master  masons 
enough  already,  and  if  he  be 
not  as  idle  as  the  Berlin  ones. 

Let  the  Jew  immediately 
take  himself  away  from  Mag- 
deburg, or  the  commandant 
shall  kick  him  out. 

That  would  be  appointing 
a  goat  for  gardener  ! 


Fie  !   How  can  he  propose 
such  a  thing? 


I  shall  send  him  no  money 
to  help  his  writing.  He  already 
writes  his  fingers  off.   Let  him 


208  Readings  in  Modern  European  History 


of   letters  amounting   to    113 
thalers. 


Petition  from  Cornet  von 
Ortzen  that  he  may  be  per- 
mitted to  visit  the  baths  of 
Carlsbad  for  the  recovery  of 
his  hearing. 

Petition  from  the  Pastor 
Pels  at  Bernau  for  a  yearly 
pension  of  150  thalers,  as  he 
finds  that  he  cannot  subsist 
on  his  stipend  of   186. 

Petition  from  Landrath  von 
Wobeser  for  compensation  on 
account  of  the  burning  of  his 
house  and  other  losses  he  suf- 
fered at  the  bombardment  of 
Custrin. 

Petition  from  the  Ober- 
Auditor  G.  at  Berlin,  com- 
plaining of  the  appointment 
of  Ober-Auditor  Reinecke  as 
general  auditor,  and  stating 
his  own  claims  as  the  senior 
of  all  the  ober-auditors,  and 
as  having  served  the  State  for 
thirty  years. 


98.  Extract  A  few  days  after  the  assassination  of  her  husband, 
ma^i^estoof  ^^^^^  I^I'  Catherine  II,  who  now  had  the  power  in  her 
Catherine  II   own  hands,  issued  the  following  pious  and  reassuring 

promising  ,  .  ,  , 

reforms         proclamation  to  her  people. 

(July,  1762) 

Humbly  adoring  the  degrees  of  Divine  Providence,  we  assure 
our  faithful  subjects  that  we  will  not  fail  by  night  and  by  day 


write  me  what  is  really  need- 
ful, and  not  so  much  useless 
stuff  that  gives  me  no  infor- 
mation. 

Carlsbad  can  do  nothing 
for  one's  ears. 


The  Apostles  did  not  thirst 
after  lucre.  They  have  preached 
in  vain ;  Herr  Pels  has  no 
apostolic  soul,  and  does  not 
hold  the  things  of  this  world 
as  things  of  nought. 

At  the  Day  of  Judgment 
every  man  will  receive  again 
whatever  he  has  lost  in  this 
life. 


I  have  in  my  stable  a  par- 
cel of  old  mules,  who  have 
served  me  a  long  while,  but  I 
have  not  yet  found  any  of  them 
apply  to  be  made  Superintend- 
ents of  the  Stable. 


Enlightened  Despots  of  the  Eighteenth  Century     209 

to  invoke  the  Most  High  to  bless  our  scepter  and  enable  us 
to  wield  it  for  the  maintenance  of  our  orthodox  religion,  the 
security  and  defense  of  our  dear  native  country,  and  the  support 
of  justice ;  as  well  as  to  put  an  end  to  all  miseries,  iniquities, 
and  violences  by  strengthening  and  fortifying  our  heart  for  the 
public  good. 

And  as  we  ardently  wish  to  prove  effectually  how  far  we 
merit  the  mutual  love  of  our  people,  for  whose  happiness  we 
acknowledge  our  throne  to  be  appointed,  we  solemnly  promise 
on  our  imperial  word  to  make  such  arrangements  in  the  empire 
that  the  government  may  be  endued  with  an  intrinsic  force 
to  support  itself  within  limited  and  proper  bounds ;  and  each 
department  of  the  State  be  provided  with  wholesome  laws  and 
regulations  sufficient  to  maintain  good  order  therein  at  all  times 
and  under  all  circumstances. 

By  which  means  we  hope  to  establish  hereafter  the  empire 
and  our  sovereign  power  (however  they  may  have  been  formerly 
weakened)  in  such  a  manner  as  to  comfort  the  discouraged 
hearts  of  all  true  patriots.  We  do  not  in  the  least  doubt  that 
our  loving  subjects  will,  as  well  for  the  salvation  of  their  own 
souls  as  for  the  good  of  religion,  inviolably  observe  the  oath 
which  they  have  sworn  to  us  in  the  presence  of  Almighty  God  ; 
we  thereupon  pledge  them  our  imperial  favor. 

Catherine's  anxiety  to  induce  d'Alembert,  the  French 
scientist  and  an  editor  of  the  Encyclopcedia^  to  come 
to  Russia,  to  act  as  her  son's  tutor  is  shown  in  the 
following  letter : 

I  have  just  received  the  answer  you  wrote  to  M.  Odar,  in  99.  Catherine 

which  you  refuse  to  transplant  yourself  in  order  to  assist  in  the  ^^  ^^S®^    ^ 
,  .  ,  ^    ^     ..     ■'  ...  ,  .,  d'Alembert 

education  of  my  son.    1  easily  conceive  that  it  costs  a  philoso-  ^^  become 

pher  like  you  nothing  to  despise  what  the  world  calls  grandeur  tutor  of  her 

and  honor  :   these  are,  in  your  eyes,  very  little ;   and  I  can  ®°°  ^^"^  ^^ 

readily  agree  that  they  are  so.    Considering  things  in  this  light, 

there  would  be  nothing  great  in  the  behavior  of  Queen  Christina 

(of  Sweden),  which  has  been  so   highly  extolled,  and   often 

censured  with  more  justice. 


210  Readings  in  Modern  European  History 

But  to  be  born  and  called  to  contribute  to  the  happiness, 
and  even  the  instruction  of  a  whole  nation,  and  yet  decline  it, 
is,  in  my  opinion,  refusing  to  do  that  good  which  you  wish  to 
do.  Your  philosophy  is  founded  in  a  love  to  mankind  :  permit 
me  then  to  tell  you,  that  to  refuse  to  serve  mankind,  whilst 
it  is  in  your  power,  is  to  miss  your  aim.  I  know  too  well  that 
you  are  a  good  man,  to  ascribe  your  refusal  to  vanity. 

I  know  that  the  sole  motive  of  it  is  the  love  of  ease,  and 
leisure  to  cultivate  letters  and  the  friendship  of  those  you 
esteem.  But  what  is  there  in  this  objection?  Come  with  all 
your  friends  ;  I  promise  both  them  and  you  every  convenience 
and  advantage  that  depends  upon  me ;  and  perhaps  you  will 
find  more  liberty  and  ease  here  than  in  your  native  country. 

You  refused  the  invitation  of  the  king  of  Prussia,  notwith- 
standing your  obligations  to  him ;  but  that  prince  has  no  son. 
I  own  to  you  that  I  have  the  education  of  my  son  so  much  at 
heart,  and  I  think  you  so  necessary  to  it,  that  perhaps  I  press 
you  with  too  much  earnestness.  Excuse  my  indiscretion,  for 
the  sake  of  the  occasion  of  it;  and  be  assured  that  it  is  my 

esteem  for  you  that  makes  me  so  urgent.  _ 

^  Catherine 

Moscow,  Nov.  3,  1762 
In  this  whole  letter  I  have  argued  only  from  what  I  have 
found  in  your  writings  :  you  would  not  contradict  yourself. 

A  letter  from  the  English  ambassador,  Harris,  writ- 
ten in  1778,  gives  his  impressions  of  Catherine  II  and 

her  court : 

Petersburg,  i6th  January,  1778 
My  dear  Sir: 

100.  An  Eng-       .  .  .  Prepared  even  as  I  was  for  the  magnificence  and  parade 

iishman|s       Qf  ^his  court,  yet  it  exceeds  in  everything  my  ideas  :   to  this  is 

oTcattferine    joined  the  most  perfect  order  and  decorum.    The  empress  her- 

II  and  her       self  unites,  in  the  most  wonderful  manner,  the  talents  of  putting 

court  (1778)     ti^Qsg  she  honors  with  her  conversation  at  their  ease,  and  of 

keeping  up  her  own  dignity.    Her  character  extends  throughout 

her  whole  administration  ;  and  although  she  is  rigidly  obeyed, 

yet  she  has  introduced  a  lenity  in  the  mode  of  government  to 


EnligJitcncd  Despots  of  the  Eighteenth  Cejttury     2  1 1 

which,  till  her  reign,  this  country  was  a  stranger.  ...  I  have  Asiatic 
not  been  here  long  enough  to  write  with  any  degree  of  precision  character  of 
on  the  several  characters  which  compose  the  court  and  first  soder*^ 
society  here.  Great  luxury  and  little  morality  seem  to  run 
through  every  rank.  Flattery  and  servility  characterize  the 
inferior  class,  presumption  and  pride  the  higher  one.  A  slight 
though  brilliant  varnish  covers  in  both  the  most  illiterate  and 
uninformed  minds.  Their  entertainments,  their  apartments, 
and  the  number  of  their  domestics  are  quite  Asiatic ;  and 
what  is  very  odd,  though  perhaps  very  natural,  although  they 
imitate  the  foreigners  in  everything,  and  have  (I  speak  of  the 
higher  class)  neither  customs  nor  character  of  their  ovm,  yet, 
generally  speaking,  a  stranger  is  ill  received  when  he  comes 
among  them.  I,  however,  am  very  far  from  laying  myself  this 
imputation  at  their  door,  since  I  have  experienced,  as  well  as 
Mrs.  Harris  and  my  sister,  every  possible  civility  from  them.  .  .  . 

The  immense  extent  of  the  Russian  empire  and  the  security 
of  its  frontiers  doubtless  render  it  a  desirable  ally  and  almost 
an  inaccessible  enemy.  The  various  articles  of  commerce  the 
rest  of  Europe  must  necessarily  fetch  from  hence,  and  the 
very  few  which  this  country  need  receive  from  them,  insures 
its  independence  and  wealth.  Russia,  therefore,  incontestably 
stands  very  high  among  the  European  powers,  but  it  may  be 
controverted  whether  it  can  come  up  to  the  high  reputation  it 
enjoys,*  or  to  the  superiority  it  assumes.  The  advantages  just 
mentioned  are  merely  the  effects  of  situation ;  they  existed 
before  this  people  were  civilized,  and  will  remain  with  them 
if  they  ever  should  return  to  that  state  of  barbarity  from  which 
they  have  so  recently  emerged. 

To  give  an  empire  preeminence  abroad,  its  political  system  Character  ol 
should  be  uniform,  wise,  and  steady.    To  make  it  respectable  ^^^  Russian 
at  home,  fixed  rules  of  interior  policy  should  be  established,  ^^^^''""^^'^ 
and  their  administration  should  be  secure  and  uncorrupted.    I 
must  confess,  my  lord,  since  my  residence  here,  my  researches 
after  such  a  system  and  such  rules  have  been  fruitless ;  and  it 
is  in  vain  that  I  have  attempted  to  discover  on  what  those  high- 
flown  encomiums  of  this  government,  which  everywhere  met  my 
ear,  were  founded. 


212  Readings  in  Modem  Europeaji  History 

Character  of  In  an  absolute  monarchy  everything  depends  on  the  dispo- 
Catherine  II  gition  and  character  of  the  sovereign  :  my  principal  object, 
therefore,  has  been  to  investigate  that  of  the  empress,  and,  as 
well  from  my  own  observations  as  from  the  relations  of  unprej- 
udiced and  well-informed  men,  it  appears  to  me  that  she  has  a 
masculine  force  of  mind,  obstinacy  in  adhering  to  a  plan  and 
intrepidity  in  the  execution  of  it ;  but  she  wants  the  more  manly 
virtues  of  deliberation,  forbearance  in  prosperity,  and  accuracy 
of  judgment,  while  she  possesses,  in  a  high  degree,  the  weak- 
nesses vulgarly  attributed  to  her  sex,  —  love  of  flattery  and  its 
inseparable  companion,  vanity,  an  inattention  to  unpleasant 
but  salutary  advice,  and  a  propensity  to  voluptuousness,  which 
leads  her  to  excesses  that  would  debase  a  female  character  in 
any  sphere  of  life. 
Review  of  If  we  recapitulate  the  events  of  the  sixteen  years  which  have 

Catherine  il's  gi^psed  since  her  accession,  they  will,  I  believe,  on  a  fair  and 
candid  inquiry,  appear  to  be  in  great  measure  the  effects  of 
such  a  character.  On  tracing  her  operations  in  Poland  we  shall 
find  that,  after  having  given  a  king  to  that  country,  on  no  very 
laudable  motive,  she,  by  sometimes  supporting  his  measures  too 
violently,  and  at  others  by  not  supporting  them  at  all,  reduced 
that  republic  to  a  state  of  despair  and  anarchy,  which,  in  the 
first  instance,  brought  on  herself  the  Turkish  war,  and,  in  its 
consequences,  forced  her  into  a  connection  that  induced  her 
to  make  a  most  unjustifiable  treaty,  which,  besides  leaving  an 
indelible  blot  on  her  reign,  has  added  force  to  the  only  two 
powers  from  whom  she  had  anything  to  apprehend,  and  left 
them  in  future  an  influence  in  the  Polish  affairs  equal  to  her 
own.  What  other  evils  the  Turkish  war  may  produce  it  is 
difficult  to  foresee;  the  events  are  still  depending,  and  that 
peace,  which  at  first  appeared  as  glorious  as  it  was  unexpected, 
has  only  proved  an  armed  truce,  and  given  time  to  the  sinews 
of  this  country  to  relax  and  be  enervated.  .  .  . 
Revolt  of  the  If  we  tum  our  reflections  to  the  interior  administration  of 
government,  I  fear  the  result  of  them  will  not  be  more  advan- 
tageous. A  mistaken  lenity,  arising  either  from  fear  or  indolence, 
has  subverted  the  great  purposes  of  law  and  justice.  The  great 
men  oppress  their  inferiors  wantonly ;   the  inferiors  pilfer  and 


Cossacks  and 
serfs  (1774) 


EnligJitencd  Despots  of  the  Eighteenth  Centitry     2 1 3 

steal  in  security.  From  a  conviction  of  this  remissness,  and 
from  the  special  pretext  of  the  cruelty  of  their  lords,  we  have 
seen  a  rebellion  break  out  in  the  heart  of  the  empire,  which, 
had  it  been  led  by  men  of  judgment  or  courage,  would  have 
shaken  it  to  its  foundations.  No  troops  were  ready  to  make 
head  against  it ;  a  panic  had  seized  half  the  country ;  and  the 
same  spirit  of  sedition  which  animated  Pugatscheff  had  infected 
the  rest.  He  was  within  a  few  days'  march  of  Moscow,  and  the 
court  was  near  retreating  to  Riga,  when,  from  want  of  resolu- 
tion and  conduct,  he  was  defeated  and  tranquillity  restored 
to  the  empire.  The  sparks  of  discontent,  however,  are  not  yet 
extinguished,  and  it  is  much  to  be  apprehended  that,  in  case 
of  any  national  calamity,  they  w^ould  blow  out  afresh. 

Joseph  II,  immediately  after  he  became,  in  1765, 
emperor  and  co-regent,  with  his  mother,  Maria  Theresa, 
of  the  Austrian  dominions,  drew  up  a  statement  of  his 
ideas  of  government  from  which  a  few  extracts  are 
given  below. 

Men,  even  when  their  aim  is  identical  and  their  motives  of  loi.  Joseph 

the  hierhest,  see  the  same  things  from  very  different  points  of  ^^  ^ives  his 

o  1  11  ,•,•  1^,  i<ieas  of 

view,   bome  are  charmed  by  everythmg  that  is  new,  while  others  government 

remain  blindly  attached  to  the  habits  of  their  predecessors.  The  (1765) 
fault  of  the  first  is  levity  and  their  merit  is  their  anxiety  to  make 
things  better.  The  defect  of  the  second  class  is  their  indolence 
of  mind  and  their  reluctance  to  look  for  anything  that  lies  out- 
side their  range  of  knowledge.  Their  redeeming  traits  are  pru- 
dence and  confidence.  ...  I  do  not  belong  to  either  party. 
I  do  not  give  expression  forthwith  to  every  whim  that  happens 
to  come  into  my  head,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  I  do  not  rumi- 
nate on  my  ideas  too  long,  lest  I  fall  into  a  state  of  indecision 
and  become  a  mere  dreamer. 

Our  present  situation  demands,  as  I  see  it,  our  undivided 
attention  and  prompt  measures  of  reform.  Of  course  I  am  as 
yet  a  mere  novice  and  can  only  express  myself  in  accordance 
with  general  principles,  relying  upon  hearsay  and  a  little  com- 
mon sense.    I  am  far  from  censuring  what  has  been  done,  since 


214  Readings  in  3fodern  European  History 

I  do  not  have  such  a  high  esteem  for  myself  that  I  can  believe 
that  my  wise  predecessors  would  not  have  done  the  same  thing 
as  I,  had  they  found  themselves  in  the  situation  which  prevails 
to-day,  or  had  they  seen  things  from  the  point  of  view  that  I 
regard  them.  .  .  . 

I  may  say  that  all  that  I  have  observed  or  learned  has  forced 
me  to  the  conclusion  that  there  is  nothing  so  dangerous  as 
cleverness  and  subtilty  in  discussion.  I  will  not  recognize  the 
force  of  any  argument  derived  from  the  ancient  Greeks  or 
the  modem  French.  Reasons  drawn  from  the  past  century  or 
the  customs  of  a  hundred  years  fail  to  convince  me,  since  the 
Austrian  monarchy  does  not  resemble  any  other  and  the  year 
1765  cannot  be  compared  with  any  other  since  the  birth  of 
Christ.  Let  us  act,  then,  according  to  the  dictates  of  good  sense 
and  reflection,  for  we  shall  have  done  enough  if  we  reach  our 
decisions  in  the  light  of  such  talents  as  the  Creator  has  vouch- 
safed us,  and  execute  them  with  confidence  and  determination 
when  once  we  have  made  up  our  minds.  I  accordingly  present 
here  a  sketch  of  the  defects  of  our  present  system  and  set  forth 
my  pious  desires  for  the  future.  .  .  . 
Importance  of  As  for  the  finances,  1  will  not  linger  long  upon  this  abstract 
increasing  matter  upon  which  I  confess  without  a  blush  I  have  only  the 
popu  ation  niQst  general  ideas,  which  I  have  derived  from  the  maxims  of 
common  sense.  I  will  content  myself  with  saying  that  I  con- 
sider the  first  and  foremost  object  toward  which  our  general 
policy,  as  well  as  our  financial,  and  even  military  measures, 
should  be  directed  is  popidation,  —  the  conservation  and  aug- 
mentation of  our  subjects.  For  to  an  increase  in  the  population 
may  be  properly  ascribed  all  the  advantages  which  accrue  to 
the  State :  first,  there  will  be  more  men  to  defend  it,  even  to 
increase  its  provinces  and  extend  its  boundaries ;  secondly, 
this  will  make  it  respected  by  its  enemies  and  courted  by  its 
allies;  and  thirdly,  the  State  will  be  enriched  by  a  legitimate 
increase  of  the  taxes  and  by  the  expenditure  which  naturally 
grows  proportionally. 
Commerce  Next  to  the  population  commerce  contributes  most  to  the 

greatness  and  wealth  of  the  State.  The  sovereign  can,  by  giv- 
ing employment  and  protection  to  workmen,  especially  to  those 


Enlightened  Despots  of  the  Eighteenth  Cent?tiy     215 

dealing  with  raw  materials  and  the  native  products,  not  only  pre- 
vent money  from  leaving  the  country  but  can  even  draw  it  in 
from  abroad.  But  it  is  not  money  alone  that  promotes  business, 
but  the  vigilance  of  the  ruler,  his  personal  inspection  or  at 
least  that  of  a  faithful  minister,  prompt  justice,  good  police 
arrangements.  The  business  men  must  be  cajoled  and  protected, 
prizes  must  be  offered,  and  the  merchants  must  be  comforted  in 
their  little  troubles ;  but  there  must  be  no  privileges  granted, 
above  all  no  exclusive  rights  or  monopolies  of  any  kind. 

As  for  expenditures,  I  believe  that  the  sovereign  should  look  Royal 

after  them  personally,  distinguishing  carefully  those  that  are  expenditures 

-111  •  r       1-         ir         11       to  be  reduced 

absolutely  essential  and  keepmg  no  more  lor  himself  and  the 

luxury  of  the  court  than  absolute  decency  demands.  Can  he 
possibly  better  enjoy  his  revenue,  even  that  which  is  quite 
properly  set  aside  for  his  pleasures,  than  by  using  it,  and  mak- 
ing it  a  pleasure  to  use  it,  for  the  benefit  of  the  State  ?  .  .  . 
All  outlays  that  are  not  absolutely  necessary  should  be  aban- 
doned, since  I  could  never  bring  myself  to  think  it  right  to  skin 
two  hundred  good  peasants  to  pay  one  do-nothing  lord  more 
than  he  ought  to  have.  .  .  . 

•  As  for  education,  I  will  only  say  a  few  words  lest  I  find  my-  Education 
self  writing  a  volume.  It  is  much  neglected  here.  Fathers  and 
mothers  hope  for  nothing  further  than  to  see  their  children 
acquire  an  attitude  of  mind  and  general  deportment  like  their 
own.  The  good  souls  believe  that  they  have  done  everything 
and  created  a  distinguished  statesman  when  their  son  attends 
mass  regularly,  tells  his  beads,  confesses  every  fortnight,  and 
reads  nothing  except  that  which  the  narrow  mind  of  his  rev- 
erend priest  permits  him  to  think  permissible.  So  long  as  a 
youth  does  not  raise  his  eyes  and  continues  to  blush  in  society, 
holds  one  hand  in  his  belt  and  the  other  in  his  waistcoat,  knows 
how  to  make  his  bow  with  good  grace  and  ask  politely,  "  What 
time  is  it  ?  "  or  ''  How  do  you  do  ?"  who  would  be  rash  enough 
not  to  say,  "  He  's  a  fine  boy  and  well  brought  up  "  ?  I  should 
say,  "  Yes,"  if  our  State  were  only  a  monastery  and  our  neigh- 
bors Carthusian  monks.   .  .  . 

In  order  to  keep  for  the  advantage  of  the  State  the  greatest 
number  of  men  of  ability  capable  of  serving  it,  I  should  order. 


2i6  Readings  in  Modern  European  History 

No  one  in  spite  of  anything  that  the  Pope  and  all  the  monks  in  the 

should  be         world  might  say,  that  none  of  my  subjects  should  embrace  any 

permitted  to  ^      •       •      ^  c       ■         ^     r  \  ^ 

become  a  ecclesiastical  profession  before  they  had  attained  the  age  of 
churchman  or  twenty-five  years.  The  melancholy  effects  which  premature 
decisions  of  this  kind  have  caused  in  the  case  of  both  men  and 
women  should  alone  convince  us  of  the  general  advisability  of 
this  measure  quite  aside  from  its  advantage  to  the  State.  I  will 
not  deny  that  this  might  bring  it  about  that  there  would  be 
fewer  monks,  but  that  would  be  no  great  evil,  for  they  would 
make  up  by  their  virtue  and  fitness  for  their  vocation  what  they 
would  lose  in  numbers.  .  .   . 

Touching  the  censorship,  I  believe  that  it  should  be  very 
alert  in  dealing  with  everything  that  is  printed  or  publicly  sold  ; 
but  to  fumble  in  one's  pockets  or  trunk,  especially  in  those  of 
a  foreigner,  is  to  carry  zeal  to  an  extreme ;  and  it  would  be 
easy  to  prove  that,  in  spite  of  the  rigor  used,  there  is  no  bad 
book  which  has  been  prohibited  which  is  not  to  be  found  in 
Vienna,  and  that  every  one  who  is  tempted  by  the  prohibition 
can  for  twice  its  price  get  the  book  and  read  it.  Accordingly 
any  individual,  in  particular  foreigners,  who  only  bring  in  one 
copy,  shall  be  left  alone,  since  it  is  not  the  business  of  the  sov- 
ereign to  watch  over  individual  consciences  but  only  over  the 
general  good.  Indeed,  to  answer  once  for  all  the  eternal  cry, 
"But  what  will  people  say?"  I  freely  profess  that  in  trivial 
matters  and  questions  of  taste  I  believe  that  full  liberty  should 
be  left  to  men  and  that  we  should  confine  our  rigor  to  matters 
affecting  the  State,  where  the  subject  should  submit  blindly  and 
see  matters  from  the  same  point  of  view  as  his  sovereign.  .  .  . 
In  order  to  promote  our  trade  I  should  make  a  law  that  all 
kinds  of  commodities  coming  from  foreign  countries,  except 
spices  and  tropical  products,  should  be  absolutely  prohibited. 
In  order  to  reach  this  end  I  should  first  prohibit  the  importa- 
tion of  all  rich  stuffs,  and  no  one  should  venture  to  wear 
clothes  with  other  embroidery  or  laces  than  those  made  in  my 
lands.  As  for  diamonds,  every  one  should  be  required  to  make 
a  declaration  of  all  that  he  possesses  and  then  he  should  not 
be  permitted  to  buy  or  procure  any  more  than  that  number, 
but  he  should  be  allowed  to  exchange  them  freely,  since  the 


Enlightened  Despots  of  the  Eighteenth  Century     2\j 

internal  luxury  of  a  country,  which  makes  the  money  of  the 
rich  circulate  among  the  poor,  far  from  being  prejudicial  to 
the  State  is  advantageous  to  it.  I  would  have  instruction  given 
in  commerce  in  my  dominions  and  would  endeavor  in  this  way 
to  form  young  men  who  should  later  be  useful  to  the  State.  In 
order  to  do  this  I  would  have  it  understood  that  it  is  no  shame 
for  the  nobility  to  go  into  business.  .  .   . 

To  hold  that  everything  that  has  been  done  before  our  time  Conclusion, 
is  good  and  unchangeable  or,  on  the  other  hand,  to  believe  ^"  °"^  obhga- 

,  ,  .  ,11,  1      •       •       1     1       1       1  •     tion  to  better 

that  everythmg  should  be  revolutionized,  both  these  are  prej-  things 
udices  which  have  serious  consequences.  The  latter  is  partic- 
ularly seductive,  since  we  see  that  things  are  not  going  well,  and 
we  conclude  that  they  formerly  went  even  worse  because  what 
we  now  have  was  once  itself  regarded  as  a  remedy.  Every- 
thing in  this  world  can  be  made  good  if  we  diminish  its  faults 
and  increase  its  advantages.  The  greatest  prejudice  of  all  and 
the  least  excusable  is  not  to  dare  to  attack  or  emancipate  one's 
self  from  prejudice.  We  must  have  a  great  deal  of  courage 
and  still  more  love  of  country  to  be  a  reformer  in  this  world. 
No  form  of  evil  instinct  is  easier  to  inculcate,  adopt,  and  follow 
than  that  which  encourages  us  to  leave  things  where  we  find 
them  without  giving  any  thought  to  the  matter.  But  we  shall 
have  one  day  to  give  an  account  of  the  good  that  we  should 
have  sought  for  and  then  accomplished. 

Riesbeck,  the  German  traveler  (quoted  above,  p.  200), 
exhibits  a  great  enthusiasm  for  Joseph  II  and  a  keen 
appreciation  of  the  situation  during  the  last  years  of 
Maria  Theresa. 

As  soon  as  the  Emperor  [Joseph  II]  governs  this  country  102.  A 

alone  a  revolution  will  take  place  here  that  will  render  the  2.^^™f^, 

^  .  traveler's 

present  inhabitants  a  phenomenon  to  the  next  generation.    He  impressions 

is  a  philosopher  in  the  true  sense  of  the  word,  although  he  of  Joseph  ll 

does  not,  like   Rudolph  the  Second,  gaze  at  the  stars  with  ^heres^^^ 

Tycho  Brahe.    He  loves  mankind,  and  is  acquainted  with  their 

value.    I  know  no  public  inscription  that  does  a  prince  more 

honor  than  that  which  is  over  the  gate  of  the  public  garden 


2l8  Readings  in  Modern  Eii7'0pean  History 

here.  "  A  place  of  pleasure  for  all  men,  prepared  for  them  by 
their  friend."  Joseph  is  a  professed  admirer  of  all  that  is  called 
private  virtue  {les  vertus  bourgeoises)^  and  his  principles  of 
government  are  as  republican  as  those  of  most  of  the  States 
who  at  this  day  call  themselves  republics.  Hitherto,  however, 
his  mother's  different  way  of  thinking  has  prevented  much  of 
his  theory  from  being  carried  into  practice. 

The  bright  sides  of  this  Empress's  character  are  so  striking 
that  one  can  hardly  observe  the  darker  ones.  In  private  life, 
indeed,  such  small  spots  would  appear  not  only  venial  but  in 
some  degree  respectable ;  but  it  is  the  misfortune  of  greatness 
that  the  smallest  weakness  of  the  governor  has  often  a  sensible 
influence  on  the  happiness  of  the  governed,  so  that  the  least 
personal  vices  are  often  the  greatest  political  defects. 

Whoever  sees  the  Empress  now,  discovers  that  she  has  been 
a  beauty.  Within  these  few  years  she  has  begun  to  be  subject 
to  some  of  the  infirmities  of  advancing  age ;  but  the  best 
judges  still  discern  a  strong  constitution  and  lively  tempera- 
ment in  her.  I  saw  her  for  the  first  time  in  the  church  of  the 
Augustine  friars,  where  she  was  attending  a  religious  ceremony, 
and  immediately  recognized  her,  not  so  much  by  her  likeness 
to  her  pictures  (from  the  truth  of  which  age  has  of  course 
taken  a  great  deal)  as  by  the  air  of  majesty  which  strikes  every 
one  who  has  the  honor  to  approach  her.  .  .  . 
Generosity  The  Empress's  benevolence,  of  which  religion  is  the  prin- 
of  Maria  ciple,  approaches  almost  to  profusion.  She  refuses  relief  to 
none  of  those  who  stand  in  need  of  her  assistance ;  and  the 
meanest  of  her  subjects  finds  the  way  to  make  his  distresses 
known  to  her.  Her  steward  has  hardly  anything  to  lay  before 
her  but  accounts  of  charities.  .   .  . 

Her  character,  however,  has  sometimes  risen  beyond  the 
strength  of  a  man.  The  resolution  with  which  she  defended 
her  hereditary  dominions  against  so  many  powers  united  to 
oppress  her  excited  the  astonishment  of  all  Europe.  Her  love 
of  justice  is  so  great  that  she  immediately  desists  from  any 
pretensions  she  has  formed  which  are  not  reconcilable  with 
it  when  she  is  shown  that  they  are  not  so.  Though  the  king 
of  Prussia  knows  that  she  bears  him  a  grudge  (which  she  will 


Enlightened  Despots  of  tJie  Eig}itee7ith  Century     219 

carry  with  her  to  the  grave),  he  is  so  convinced  of  the  general 
rectitude  of  her  principles  that  whenever  they  have  a  dispute, 
his  only  care  is  to  have  his  reasons  properly  stated  to  the 
Empress  herself  by  his  ambassador. 

In  order  to  have  any  idea  of  the  government  of  this  place,  Three  chief 
it  is  necessary  to  attend  to  the  three  contending  parties  of  the  P^""*^^.^  ^" 
State.    The  first  and  strongest  is  that  of  the  Empress ;   it  con- 
sists of  the  great  personage  herself,  Cardinal  Migazzi,  the  arch- 
bishop, some   monks,   principally  Capuchins,    and  a  few  old 
ladies  who  make  their  court  to  the  Empress  by  imitating  her 
peculiarities.    This  party  is  always  busy  with  commissions  on 
improving  morals,  prohibition  of  books,  driving  away  dangerous  The  clerical 
preachers  and  professors,  increasing  the  papal  power,  and  per-  conservative 
secuting  the  new  philosophy.    A  great  part  of  the  old  nobility, 
whose  prerogatives  stand  upon  the  same  ground  as  those  of 
the  priesthood,  adhere  very  strongly  to  this  party. 

The  second  party  is  that  of  the  Emperor,  and  it  is  at  per-  The  reformers 
petual  war  with  the  former.  This  party  employs  itself  in  the 
improvement  of  legislation  and  the  promotion  of  agriculture, 
trade,  and  industry  of  all  kinds ;  in  the  extension  of  philoso- 
phy and  taste ;  in  curtailing  the  exorbitant  pretensions  of  the 
nobles ;  in  the  protection  of  the  lower  classes  against  the 
higher,  —  in  short,  in  whatever  can  make  gods  of  men.  One  of 
the  principal  persons  of  this  party  is  Marshal  Lacy,  who  car- 
ries on  a  most  unremitting  war  against  the  monks  and  their 
adherents.  This  able  general  acts  here  just  as  he  did  when 
he  was  opponent  to  the  king  of  Prussia ;  and  the  Emperor 
and  he  are  always  occupied  in  planning  zigzag  marches,  and 
countermarches,  and  retreats ;  so  that  General  Migazzi  and 
his  brown,  black,  white,  half-black,  half-white  troops  are  often 
obliged  to  go  into  winter  quarters  without  having  effected  any 
slaughter  at  all.  These  two  parties,  who  are  open  enemies, 
have,  however,  some  intercourse  with  each  other  through  the 
medium  of  a  third,  at  the  head  of  which  is  the  celebrated 
Count  Kaunitz. 

Count  Kaunitz,  the  greatest  statesman  of  our  day,  and  a 
man  who,  by  great  services  to  the  imperial  house,  has  worked 
himself  into  the  confidence  both  of  the  Empress  and  her  son, 


220  Readings  in  Modern  European  History 

The  party  of  is  worthy  to  be  the  mediator  between  them.    In  his  heart  he 
Count  jg  more  favorable  to  the  Emperor's  party  than  to  that  of  his 

statesman  mother,  but  he  is  obliged  to  appear  a  kind  of  middle  man, 
and  diplomat  and  to  give  his  own  philosophical  operations  that  kind  of  reh- 
(1711-1794)  gJQyg  (<3^g^  without  which  they  would  not  go  down.  .  .  .  He 
often  covers  the  marches  of  the  Emperor  and  his  great  field 
marshal,  by  which  means  Migazzi,  alert  as  he  is,  is  often 
forced  to  capitulate  before  he  knows  that  the  enemy  is  in  the 
field.  Kaunitz  distinguishes  himself  by  his  style  of  living  and 
mode  of  expense.  These  are  entirely  French,  and  most  mag- 
nificent. As  nothing  can  be  more  contrary  to  the  Emperor's 
rigid  economy  than  such  a  way  of  life,  it  is  not  certain  but 
that  the  Count  (in  spite  of  his  set  ways  and  well-known  merits) 
may  be  obliged  upon  a  change  to  make  an  alteration  in  this 
respect,  which  his  age  and  the  habits  he  has  contracted  would 
make  unpleasing  to  him. 

What  with  the  erection  of  new  schools,  and  the  care  to  pre- 
vent the  erection  of  new  cloisters,  the  battles  about  new  books, 
and  the  recommendations  to  civil  and  military  employments, 
all  the  three  parties  have  sufficiently  to  do. 

Section  JI.    Peculiarities  of  the  English  Government 
iji  the  Eighteenth  Century 

Blackstone,  writing  in  the  opening  years  of  George 
Ill's  reign,  thus  describes  the  relations  of  king  and  Par- 
liament in  his  Commentaries  07t  the  Laivs  of  England. 

103.  Black-  The  constituent  parts  of  a  Parliament  are  the  next  objects  of 
stone  on  the  ^^^  inquiry.  And  these  are  the  king's  majesty,  sitting  there  in 
Parliament  his  royal  political  capacity,  and  the  three  estates  of  the  realm,  — 
the  lords  spiritual,  the  lords  temporal  (who  sit  together  with 
the  king,  in  one  House),  and  the  Commons,  who  sit  by  them- 
selves in  another.  And  the  king  and  these  three  estates, 
together,  form  the  great  corporation  or  body  politic  of  the 
kingdom,  of  which  the  king  is  said  to  be  caputs  principium, 
et  finis.  For  upon  their  coming  together  the  king  meets  them, 
either  in  person  or  by  representation  ;  without  which  there  can 


Enlightened  Despots  of  the  Eightee7ith  Century     221 

be  no  beginning  of  a  Parliament ;   and  he  also  has  alone  the 
power  of  dissolving  them. 

It  is  highly  necessary  for  preserving  the  balance  of  the  con-  Position  of 
stitution,  that  the  executive  power  should  be  a  branch,  though  *^^  ^^"s 
not  the  whole,  of  the  legislature.  .  .  .  The  crown  cannot 
begin  of  itself  any  alterations  in  the  present  established  law ; 
but  it  may  approve  or  disapprove  of  the  alterations  suggested 
and  consented  to  by  the  two  Houses.  The  legislative  therefore 
cannot  abridge  the  executive  power  of  any  rights  which  it  now 
has  by  law,  without  its  own  consent,  since  the  law  must  per- 
petually stand  as  it  now  does,  unless  all  the  powers  will  agree 
to  alter  it. 

And  herein  indeed  consists  the  true  excellence  of  the  English  System  of 
government,  that  all  the  parts  of  it  form  a  mutual  check  upon  ^hecks  and 
each  other.  In  the  legislature,  the  people  are  a  check  upon 
the  nobility,  and  the  nobility  a  check  upon  the  people,  by  the 
mutual  privilege  of  rejecting  what  the  other  has  resolved  ;  while 
the  king  is  a  check  upon  both,  which  preserves  the  executive 
power  from  encroachments.  And  this  very  executive  power  is 
again  checked  and  kept  within  due  bounds  by  the  two  Houses, 
through  the  privilege  they  have  of  inquiring  into,  impeaching, 
and  punishing  the  conduct,  not  indeed  of  the  king,  which 
w^ould  destroy  his  constitutional  independence ;  but  —  which 
is  more  beneficial  to  the  public  —  of  his  evil  and  pernicious 
counselors.  Thus  every  branch  of  our  civil  polity  supports  and 
is  supported,  regulates  and  is  regulated,  by  the  rest.  .  .  . 

The  spiritual  lords  consist  of  two  archbishops  and  twenty-  Spiritual 
four  bishops ;  and,  at  the  dissolution  of  monasteries  by  Henry  ^'^'^^'^ 
VIII,  consisted  likewise  of  twenty-six  mitered  abbots  and  two 
priors  :  a  very  considerable  body,  and  in  those  times  equal  in 
nufnber  to  the  temporal  nobility.  .   .  . 

The  lords  temporal  consist  of  all  the  peers  of  the  realm  (the  Temporal 
bishops  not  being  in  strictness  held  to  be  such,  but  merely  lords  ^^^*^^ 
of  Parliament)  by  whatever  title  of  nobility  distinguished  — 
dukes,  marquisses,  earls,  viscounts,  or  barons ;  of  which  dig- 
nities we  shall  speak  more  hereafter.  Some  of  these  sit  by 
descent,  as  do  all  ancient  peers;  some  by  creation,  as  do  all 
new-made  ones;    others,  since   the  union  with   Scotland,  by 


222  Readings  in  Modern  Ejiropean  History 

election,  which  is  the  case  of  the  sixteen  peers  who  represent 
the  body  of  the  Scots  nobility.  Their  number  is  indefinite, 
and  may  be  increased  at  will  by  the  power  of  the  crown  ;  and 
once,  in  the  reign  of  Queen  Anne,  there  was  an  instance  of 
creating  no  less  than  twelve  together.  .  .  . 
The  Commons  The  Commons  consist  of  all  such  men  of  any  property  in  the 
kingdom  as  have  not  seats  in  the  House  of  Lords,  every  one 
of  which  has  a  voice  in  Parliament,  either  personally  or  by  his 
representatives.  In  a  free  State  every  man,  who  is  supposed  a 
free  agent,  ought  to  be,  in  some  measure,  his  own  governor ; 
and  therefore  a  branch  at  least  of  the  legislative  power  should 
reside  in  the  whole  body  of  the  people.  And  this  power,  when 
the  territories  of  the  State  are  small  and  its  citizens  easily  known, 
should  be  exercised  by  the  people  in  their  aggregate  or  col- 
lective capacity,  as  was  wisely  ordained  in  the  petty  republics 
of  Greece  and  the  first  rudiments  of  the  Roman  State.  But 
this  will  be  highly  inconvenient  when  the  public  territory  is 
extended  to  any  considerable  degree,  and  the  number  of  citi- 
zens is  increased.   .  .  . 

In  so  large  a  State  as  ours  it  is  therefore  very  wisely  contrived 
that  the  people  should  do  that  by  their  representatives  which 
it  is  impracticable  to  perform  in  person ;  —  representatives 
chosen  by  a  number  of  minute  and  separate  districts,  wherein 
all  the  voters  are,  or  easily  may  be,  distinguished.  The  counties 
are  therefore  represented  by  knights,  elected  by  the  proprietors 
of  lands ;  the  cities  and  boroughs  are  represented  by  citizens 
and  burgesses,  chosen  by  the  mercantile  part  or  supposed 
trading  interest  of  the  nation,  much  in  the  same  manner  as 
the  burghers  in  the  diet  of  Sweden  are  chosen  by  the  corporate 
towns,  Stockholm  sending  four,  as  London  does  with  us,  other 
cities  two,  and  some  only  one.  The  number  of  English  repre- 
sentatives is  513,  and  of  Scots  45  ;  in  all  558.  And  every 
member,  though  chosen  by  one  particular  district,  when  elected 
and  returned  serves  for  the  whole  realm.  .  .  .  And  there- 
fore he  is  not  bound,  like  a  deputy  in  the  United  Provinces, 
to  consult  with,  or  take  the  advice  of,  his  constituents  upon 
any  particular  point,  unless  he  himself  thinks  it  proper  or 
prudent  so  to  do. 


Enlightened  Despots  of  the  Eighteenth  Cejitnry      223 

These  are  the  constituent  parts  of  a  Parliament :  the  king,  Relations  of 
the  lords  spiritual  and  temporal,  and  the  Commons.  Parts,  of  *^®  several 
which  each  is  so  necessary,  that  the  consent  of  all  three  is  parliament 
required  to  make  any  new  law  that  shall  bind  the  subject. 
Whatever  is  enacted  for  law  by  one,  or  by  two  only,  of  the 
three  is  no  statute,  and  to  it  no  regard  is  due,  unless  in  mat- 
ters relating  to  their  own  privileges.  For  though,  in  the  times 
of  madness  and  anarchy,  the  Commons  once  passed  a  vote, 
"  that  whatever  is  enacted  or  declared  for  law  by  the  Commons 
in  Parliament  assembled  hath  the  force  of  law ;  and  all  the 
people  of  this  nation  are  concluded  thereby,  although  the  con- 
sent and  concurrence  of  the  king  or  house  of  peers  be  not  had 
thereto,"  yet,  when  the  constitution  was  restored  in  all  its 
forms,  it  was  particularly  enacted  by  statute  13  Car.  II.  c.  i, 
that  if  any  person  shall  maliciously  or  advisedly  affirm  that  both 
or  either  of  the  Houses  of  Parliament  have  any  legislative 
authority  without  the  king,  such  person  shall  incur  all  the 
penalties  of  a  praefutinire.  .   .  . 

The  power  and  jurisdiction  of  Parliament,  says  Sir  Edward  Powers  of 
Coke,  is  so  transcendent  and  absolute  that  it  cannot  be  con-  ^^''liament 
fined,  either  for  causes  or  persons,  within  any  bounds.  And  of 
this  high  court  he  adds,  it  may  be  truly  said,  "  si  antiquitatem 
species^  est  vetiistissima  ;  si  dignitatem^  est  honoratissima  ;  si 
jurisdictionem^  est  capaeissima.'"  It  hath  sovereign  and  uncon- 
trollable authority  in  making,  confirming,  enlarging,  restraining, 
abrogating,  repealing,  reviving,  and  expounding  of  laws,  con- 
cerning matters  of  all  possible  denominations,  ecclesiastical,  or 
temporal,  civil,  military,  maritime,  or  criminal ;  this  being  the 
place  where  that  absolute  despotic  power,  which  must  in  all 
governments  reside  somewhere,  is  entrusted  by  the  constitution 
of  these  kingdoms.  All  mischiefs  and  grievances,  operations 
and  remedies,  that  transcend  the  ordinary  course  of  the  laws, 
are  within  the  reach  of  this  extraordinary  tribunal. 

It  can  regulate  or  new  model  the  succession  to  the  crown, 
as  was  done  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII  and  William  III.  It 
can  alter  the  established  religion  of  the  land,  as  was  done  in 
a  variety  of  instances,  in  the  reigns  of  King  Henry  VIII  and 
his  three  children.    It  can  change  and  create  afresh  even  the 


224  Readings  m  Modern  Europe a7i  History 

constitution  of  the  kingdom  and  of  parliaments  themselves, 
as  was  done  by  the  act  of  union,  and  the  several  statutes  for 
triennial  and  septennial  elections.  It  can,  in  short,  do  every- 
thing that  is  not  naturally  impossible ;  and  therefore  some  have 
not  scrupled  to  call  its  power,  by  a  figure  rather  too  bold,  the 
omnipotence  of  Parliament. 


CHAPTER   XI 
THE  EVE  OF  THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION 

Section  ^2.    The  Ancien  Regime  i7i  France 

Necker's  daughter,  the  gifted  Madame  de  Stael,  in  her 
Observations  on  the  French  Revolution  (pubUshed  in  1 8 1 8), 
skillfully  sums  up  the  general  character  of  the  French 
government  before  1789. 

Among  all  the  kingdoms  of  modern  times  France  has  cer-  104.  Uncer- 
tainly been  the  most  arbitrary  and  unsettled  in  its  political  tamty  and 

^  •'     .  .  ,    ,  .  confusion  of 

institutions.    Perhaps  the  successive  annexations  of  the  various  the  Ancien 

provinces  by  the  crown  is  one  reason  for  this.    Each  province  Regime 
brought  with  it  its  own  customs  and   particular  claims;    the  Madame  de 
government  skillfully  played  off  the  old  provinces  against  the  stael) 
new,  and  only  gradually  did  the  country  become  a  unit. 

Be  this  as  it  may,  there  has  been  no  law,  however  funda- 
mental, which  has  not  been  questioned  at  some  period.  There 
has  been  nothing  which  has  not  been  viewed  in  the  most  diverse 
ways.  Were  the  kings  the  lawgivers  of  the  realm,  or  no?  Might 
they  raise  taxes  of  their  free  will,  or  were  the  Estates  General 
the  representatives  of  the  people,  to  whom  alone  belonged  the 
right  to  grant  subsidies  ?  And  how  should  the  Estates  General 
be  composed?  Could  the  privileged  orders,  who  had  two  votes 
out  of  the  three,  be  regarded  as  separate  nations,  who  voted 
their  taxes  separately,  and  might  therefore  withhold  their  aid, 
and  so  leave  the  people  to  bear  the  burden  of  the  necessary 
contributions  to  the  State? 

What  were,  precisely,  the  privileges  of  the  clergy,  who  some-  Position  of 
times  declared  themselves  independent  of  the  king,  sometimes  *^^  three 

estates  of 

of  the  Pope  ?    What  were  exactly  the  prerogatives  of  the  nobles,  t^^  realm 
who   sometimes,  and  as  late  as  the  minority  of  Louis  XIV, 

225 


226  Readings  m  Modern  Europe  mi  History 

believed  themselves  entitled  to  enforce  their  rights  by  arms 
and  by  alliances  with  foreign  powers  ;  sometimes,  on  the  other 
hand,  acknowledged  the  king  to  be  absolute?  What  should  be 
the  status  of  the  third  estate,  emancipated  by  the  kings  from 
serfdom,  admitted  to  the  Estates  General  by  Philip  the  Fair, 
and  yet  condemned  to  be  ahvays  in  the  minority ;  since  it  was 
given  but  one  vote  out  of  three,  and  its  grievances,  presented 
to  the  king  on  its  knees,  were  without  any  assured  influence? 
Theparle-  What  degree  of  political  power  rightly  belonged  to  the  pa r- 
ments  le}ne?tts^  which  at  one  time  declared  that  they  had  no  other 
duties  than  to  administer  justice,  and  at  another  proclaimed 
that  they  were  Estates  General  in  miniature,  —  that  is,  the  rep- 
resentatives of  the  representatives  of  the  people?  These  same 
parlements  did  not  recognize  the  jurisdiction  of  the  intendants 
who  administered  the  provinces  in  the  king's  name.  The  king's 
ministers  questioned  the  right  claimed  by  the  pays  d'etats  ^  to 
approve  new  taxes  in  their  respective  provinces. 

The  history  of  France  would  furnish  a  mass  of  other  exam- 
ples of  this  want  of  fixity  in  the  least,  as  well  as  in  the  greatest, 
matters  ;  but  it  will  suffice  to  cite  some  of  the  deplorable  results 
of  this  absence  of  rules.  Persons  accused  of  state  offenses  were 
almost  always  deprived  of  their  natural  judges,  and  some  of 
them  passed  their  whole  lives  in  prison,  where  the  government 
had  sent  them  on  its  own  authority  without  trial.  A  code  of 
terror  was  maintained  for  the  Protestants,  and  cruel  punish- 
ments and  torture  continued  to  exist  until  the  Revolution. 

Arbitrary  Arbitrary  imprisonment  by  lettres  de  cachet  had  begun 
menr°"  ^^  excitc  the  indignation  of  the  courts  before  the  Revo- 
lution, as  the  following  case  shows.  The  collection  of 
certain  taxes  was,  for  the  sake  of  convenience,  turned 
over  by  the  French  government  to  a  company  of  finan- 
ciers called  the  "  farmers  general."  These  men  and  their 
agents  were  commonly  disliked  for  obvious  reasons. 
Toward  the  end  of  Louis  XV's  reign  the  agents  of  the 

1  Namely,  those  provinces  which  retained  their  ancient  provincial 
assemblies  of  the  three  orders. 


The  Eve  of  the  French  Revolution  227 

"farm  "  obtained  a  lettre  de  cachet  for  the  imprisonment 
of  an  unfortunate  individual  whom  they  mistook  for  an- 
other man  of  the  same  name.  When  the  prisoner  was 
released  he  brought  suit  against  the  "farmers,"  who 
were  condemned  to  pay  heavy  damages.  They  applied, 
however,  to  the  king's  council,  which  annulled  the  deci- 
sion ;  whereupon  the  court  which  had  decided  the  case 
laid  a  solemn  "Protest  "  before  the  king  denouncing  the 
whole  system  of  arbitrary  imprisonment. 

Sire  : 

Your  Court  of  Excises,^  having  been  impeded  in  the  admin-  105.  Protest 
istration  of  justice  by  illegal  acts  which  cannot  have  emanated  °^  ^  French 
from  your  Majesty  personally,  have  determined  that  a  very  j^w  against 
humble  and  very  respectful  protest  should  be  made  to  you  lettres  de 
concerning  the  matter.   .  .   .  cachet  {1^0] 

Certain  agents  of  the  "  farm  "  arrested  an  individual  named 
Monnerat  without  observing  any  of  the  restrictions  imposed 
by  law.  Shortly  afterwards  an  order  from  your  Majesty  was 
produced  in  virtue  of  which  the  man  was  taken  to  the  prison 
of  Bicetre  and  held  there  for  twenty  months.  Yet  it  is  not  the 
excessive  length  of  the  imprisonment  that  should  most  deeply 
touch  your  Majesty.  There  exist  in  the  fortress  of  Bicetre  sub- 
terranean dungeons  which  were  dug  long  ago  to  receive  certain 
famous  criminals  who,  after  having  been  condemned  to  death, 
saved  themselves  by  exposing  their  accomplices.  It  would  seem 
that  they  were  condemned  to  a  life  which  would  have  made 
death  the  preferable  alternative.  While  it  was  desired  that  their 
cells  should  be  absolutely  dark,  it  was  necessary  to  admit  enough 
air  to  sustain  life.  Accordingly  hollow  pillars  were  constructed 
which  established  some  connection  with  the  outer  air  with- 
out letting  in  any  light.  The  victims  that  are  cast  into  these 
damp  cells,  which  necessarily  become  foul  after  a  few  days,  are 

^  This  court  {cour  des  aides),  as  well  as  the  parle?neiits,  often  sent 
protests  to  the  king,  criticising  the  policy  of  his  ministers  and  council. 
The  protests  were  frequently  printed,  and  so  served  to  rouse  and  culti- 
vate public  opinion. 


228  Readings  i7i  Modern  European  History 

fastened  to  the  wall  by  a  heavy  chain  and  are  supplied  with 
nothing  but  a  little  straw,  and  bread  and  water.  Your  Majesty 
will  find  it  difficult  to  believe  that  a  man  simply  suspected  of 
smuggling  should  be  kept  in  such  a  place  of  horror  for  more 
than  a  month. 

According  to  the  testimony  of  Monnerat  himself,  and  the 
deposition  of  a  witness,  it  appears  that  after  emerging  from 
his  subterranean  cell,  which  he  calls  *'  the  black  dungeon,"  he 
was  kept  for  a  long  time  in  another  less  dark.  This  precaution 
was  taken  for  the  welfare  of  the  prisoner,  since  experience  has 
shown  —  perhaps  at  the  cost  of  a  number  of  lives  —  that  it  is 
dangerous  to  pass  too  suddenly  from  the  black  dungeon  to  the 
open  air  and  the  light  of  day. 

Monnerat,  upon  being  released  from  prison,  brought  suit 
for  damages  against  the  farmers  general.  Up  to  that  point  the 
question  was  one  of  an  individual.  But  the  arrest  was  illegal 
in  form  and  the  imprisonment  a  real  injustice.  If  this  man 
was  a  smuggler,  he  should  have  been  punished  according  to 
the  laws,  which  are  very  severe  in  this  matter.  But  when  your 
Majesty  grants  an  order  for  the  imprisonment  of  one  suspected 
of  smuggling,  it  is  not  your  intention  to  have  the  suspected  per- 
son kept  in  confinement  for  nearly  two  years  waiting  for  proofs 
of  his  guilt.  Now  Monnerat  has  always  maintained,  both  during 
and  since  his  imprisonment,  that  he  was  not  even  the  person  for 
whom  the  order  was  obtained.  .  .  . 

According  to  the  prevailing  system,  whenever  the  farmer  of 
the  revenue  has  no  proof  of  smuggling  except  such  as  the  courts 
would  regard  as  suspicious  and  insufficient,  he  resorts  to  your 
Majesty's  orders,  called  letti-es  de  cachet^  in  order  to  punish 
the  offense.  .  .  . 
(Condensed)  [By  means  of  these  arbitrary  orders  the  most  sacred  rights 
are  violated,  and  the  victim  has  no  means  of  learning  who  is 
his  persecutor.  If  any  one  who  is  able  to  impose  upon  your 
Majesty  and  procure  a  lettf-e  de  cachet  is  to  be  shielded  from 
the  courts,]  how  indeed  can  we  be  said  to  live  to-day  under 
any  laws,  sire,  since  such  orders  have  prodigiously  increased 
of  late  and  are  granted  for  all  sorts  of  reasons  and  for  personal 
considerations?    Formerly  they  were   reserved   for   affairs  of 


TJie  Eve  of  the  Fi'ench  Revolutiofi  229 

State,  and  then,  sire,  it  was  proper  that  the  courts  should 
respect  the  necessary  secrecy  of  your  administration.  Subse- 
quently these  orders  began  to  be  granted  in  certain  interest- 
ing cases,  as,  for  example,  when  the  sovereign  was  touched  by 
the  tears  of  a  family  which  dreaded  disgrace.^  To-day  they 
are  considered  necessary  every  time  a  common  man  offers  any 
slight  to  a  person  of  consideration,  —  as  if  persons  of  quality 
had  not  enough  advantages  already.  It  is  also  the  usual  form 
of  punishment  for  indiscreet  remarks.  .  .  . 

These  orders  signed  by  your  Majesty  are  often  filled  in  with 
obscure  names  of  which  your  Majesty  cannot  possibly  have 
heard.  They  are  at  the  disposal  of  your  ministers,  and,  it  would 
appear,  in  view  of  the  great  number  which  are  issued,  of  their 
clerks  as  well.  They  are  confided  to  ofificials  in  both  the  capital 
and  the  provinces,  who  make  use  of  them  in  accordance  with  the 
suggestions  of  their  subdelegates  and  other  subordinates.  They 
doubtless  find  their  way  into  many  other  hands,  since  we  have 
just  seen  how  readily  they  are  granted  to  a  simple  farmer  general 
or  even,  we  may  safely  add,  to  the  agents  of  the  farm.  .  .  . 

The  result  is,  sire,  that  no  citizen  in  your  kingdom  can  be 
assured  that  his  liberty  will  not  be  sacrificed  to  a  private  grudge  ; 
for  no  one  is  so  exalted  that  he  is  safe  from  the  ill  will  of  a 
minister,  or  so  insignificant  that  he  may  not  incur  that  of  a 
clerk  in  the  employ  of  the  farm'.  The  day  will  come,  sire, 
when  the  multiplicity  of  the  abuses  of  the  leftres  de  cachet 
will  lead  your  Majesty  to  abolish  a  custom  so  opposed  to  the 
constitution  of  your  kingdom  and  the  liberty  which  your  sub- 
jects should  enjoy. 

Of  all   the  descriptions  that  we  have  of  the  general  106.  Ex- 
condition  of  the  French  people  upon  the  eve  of  the  Rev-  Arthur 

olution,  the  most  important  and  interesting  is  Arthur  Young's 

.       ^  ,      .  ,       Travels  in 

Young's  account  of  his  travels    m  France  durmg  the  pjance 

years  1787,  1788,  and  1789.    Young  was  an  honest  and 

observant  English  gentleman  farmer,  whose  aim  was  to 

1  This  refers  to  the  imprisonment  of  unruly  sons  or  other  relatives 
who  were  compromising  a  respectable  family  by  their  conduct. 


230  Readings  in  Modern  European  History 

ascertain  the  ''cultivation,  wealth,  resources,  and  national 
prosperity  "  of  France,  which  were,  as  he  foresaw,  to  be 
fundamentally  changed  by  the  Revolution  then  under 
way.  His  book,  first  pubHshed  in  1792,  met  with  imme- 
diate success,  and  still  fascinates  even  the  casual  reader 
In  1787  Arthur  Young  visited  Paris  and  Versailles, 
and  then  traveled  southward  as  far  as  the  Pyrenees. 
Of  Versailles  and  the  capital  he  says  : 

Impressions  In  viewing  the  king's  apartment,  which  he  had  not  left  a 
of  Versailles  quarter  of  an  hour,  with  those  slight  traits  of  disorder  that 
gardens  showed  he  Uved  in  it,  it  was  amusing  to  see  the  blackguard 
figures  that  were  walking  uncontrolled  about  the  palace,  and 
even  in  his  bedchamber ;  men  whose  rags  betrayed  them  to 
be  in  the  last  stage  of  poverty,  and  I  was  the  only  person  that 
stared  and  wondered  how  the  devil  they  got  there.  It  is  im- 
possible not  to  like  this  careless  indifference  and  freedom 
from  suspicion.  One  loves  the  master  of  the  house,  who  would 
not  be  hurt  or  offended  at  seeing  his  apartment  thus  occupied 
if  he  returned  suddenly,  for  if  there  was  danger  of  this  the 
intrusion  would  be  prevented.  This  is  certainly  a  feature  of 
that  good  temper  w^hich  appears  to  me  so  visible  everywhere  in 
France.  I  desired  to  see  the  queen's  apartments,  but  I  could 
not.  "Is  her  Majesty  in  it?"  ''No."  "Why  then  not  see 
it  as  well  as  the  king's?"  "Ma  foi,  Monsieur,  c'est  une 
autre  chose." 

Ramble  through  the  gardens,  and  by  the  grand  canal, 
with  absolute  astonishment  at  the  exaggerations  of  writers 
and  travelers.  There  is  magnificence  in  the  quarter  of  the 
orangery,  but  no  beauty  anywhere ;  there  are  some  statues 
good  enough  to  wish  them  under  cover.  The  extent  and 
breadth  of  the  canal  are  nothing  to  the  eye,  and  it  is  not  in 
such  good  repair  as  a  farmer's  horse  pond.  The  menagerie 
is  well  enough,  but  nothing  great. 

After  a  stay  of  three  months  Young  finds  himself  in 
the  southern  confines  of  the  kingdom. 


The  Eve  of  the  Fre^ich  Revolution  231 

\_Augiist  ii.'\    Take  the  road  to  Lourdes,  where  is  a  castle  Young's 
on  a  rock,  garrisoned  for  the  mere  purpose  of  keeping  state  impressions 

.    1--.1.        ,         7..  J  7   .      c^  •    ,  of  Beam 

prisoners  sent  hither  by  lettres  de  cachet.  Seven  or  eight  are 
known  to  be  here  at  present;  thirty  have  been  here  at  a 
time ;  and  many  for  life,  —  torn  by  the  relentless  hand  of 
jealous  tyranny  from  the  bosom  of  domestic  comfort;  from 
wives,  children,  friends,  and  hurried  for  crimes  unknown  to 
themselves  —  more  probably  for  virtues  —  to  languish  in  this 
detested  abode  of  misery,  and  die  of  despair.  O  liberty ! 
liberty !  And  yet  this  is  the  mildest  government  of  any  con- 
siderable country  in  Europe,  our  own  excepted.  The  dispen- 
sations of  Providence  seem  to  have  permitted  the  human  race 
to  exist  only  as  the  prey  of  tyrants,  as  it  has  made  pigeons  for 
the  prey  of  hawks.  .  .  . 

\The  12th.']  Pau  is  a  considerable  town,  that  has  a  parlia- 
ment and  a  linen  manufacture ;  but  it  is  more  famous  for 
being  the  birthplace  of  Henry  IV.  I  viewed  the  castle,  and 
was  shown,  as  all  travelers  are,  the  room  in  which  that  amiable 
prince  was  born,  and  the  cradle  —  the  shell  of  a  tortoise  — 
in  which  he  was  nursed.  What  an  effect  on  posterity  have 
great  and  distinguished  talents !  This  is  a  considerable  town, 
but  I  question  whether  anything  would  ever  carry  a  stranger 
to  it  but  its  possessing  the  cradle  of  a  favorite  character. 

Take  the  road  to  Moneng  [Monein]  and  come  presently 
to  a  scene  which  was  so  new  to  me  in  France  that  I  could 
hardly  believe  my  own  eyes.  A  succession  of  many  well-built, 
tight,  and  comfortable  farming  cottages,  built  of  stone  and 
covered  with  tiles ;  each  having  its  little  garden,  inclosed  by 
clipped  thorn  hedges,  with  plenty  of  peach  and  other  fruit 
trees,  some  fine  oaks  scattered  in  the  hedges,  and  young  trees 
nursed  up  with  so  much  care  that  nothing  but  the  fostering 
attention  of  the  owner  could  effect  anything  like  it.  To  every 
house  belongs  a  farm,  perfectly  well  inclosed,  with  grass  bor- 
ders mown  and  neatly  kept  around  the  cornfields,  with  gates  to 
pass  from  one  inclosure  to  another.  The  men  are  all  dressed 
with  red  caps,  like  the  Highlanders  of  Scotland.  There  are 
some  parts  of  England  (where  small  yeomen  still  remain)  that 
resenble  this  country  of  Beam;   but  we  have  very  little  that 


232  Readings  hi  Modem  European  History 

is  equal  to  what  I  have  seen  m  this  ride  of  twelve  miles  from 
Pau  to  Moneng.  It  is  all  in  the  hands  of  little  proprietors, 
without  the  farms  being  so  small  as  to  occasion  a  vicious  and 
miserable  population.  An  air  of  neatness,  warmth,  and  com- 
fort breathes  over  the  whole.  It  is  visible  in  their  new-built 
houses  and  stables,  in  their  little  gardens,  in  their  hedges,  in 
the  courts  before  their  doors,  even  in  the  coops  for  their 
poultry  and  the  sties  for  their  hogs.  A  peasant  does  not  think 
of  rendering  his  pig  comfortable  if  his  own  happiness  hangs 
by  the  thread  of  a  nine  years'  lease.  We  are  now  in  Beam, 
within  a  few  miles  of  the  cradle  of  Henry  IV.  Do  they  inherit 
these  blessings  from  that  good  prince?  The  benignant  genius 
of  that  good  monarch  seems  to  reign  still  over  the  country ; 
each  peasant  has  the  fowl  in  the  pot.  .  .   . 

\_The  ijth.'\  The  agreeable  scene  of  yesterday  continues: 
many  small  properties,  and  every  appearance  of  rural  happiness. 

In  September,  1788,  Young  found  himself  in  Brittany. 

Brittany  To  Combourg.  The  country  has  a  savage  aspect ;  husbandry 
not  much  further  advanced,  at  least  in  skill,  than  among  the 
Hurons,  which  appears  incredible  amidst  inclosures.  The 
people  almost  as  wild  as  their  country,  and  their  town  of 
Combourg  one  of  the  most  brutal,  filthy  places  that  can  be 
seen  ;  mud  houses,  no  windows,  and  a  pavement  so  broken 
as  to  impede  all  passengers,  but  ease  none.  Yet  here  is  a 
chateau,  and  inhabited.  Who  is  this  Monsieur  de  Chateau- 
briant,  the  owner,  that  has  nerves  strung  for  a  residence 
amidst  such  filth  and  poverty?  .  .  . 

To  Montauban.  The  poor  people  seem  poor  indeed ;  the 
children  terribly  ragged,  —  if  possible,  worse  clad  than  if  with 
no  clothes  at  all ;  as  to  shoes  and  stockings,  they  are  luxuries. 
A  beautiful  girl  of  six  or  seven  years  playing  with  a  stick,  and 
smiling  under  such  a  bundle  of  rags  as  made  my  heart  ache  to 
see  her.  They  did  not  beg,  and  when  I  gave  them  anything 
seemed  more  surprised  than  obliged.  One  third  of  what  I  have 
seen  of  this  province  seems  uncultivated,  and  nearly  all  of  it 
in  misery.  What  have  kings,  and  ministers,  and  parliaments, 
and  States  to  answer  for  their  prejudices,  seeing  millions  of 


TJie  Eve  of  the  F7'e7ich  Revoluiioyi  233 

hands  that  would  be  industrious  idle  and  starving  through  the 
execrable  maxims  of  despotism,  or  the  equally  detestable 
prejudices  of  a  feudal  nobility.  Sleep  at  the  Lion  d'Or^  at 
Montauban,  an  abominable  hole. 

Young  was  in  Paris  during  the  early  sessions  of  the 
Estates  General  in  1789.^  On  June  28  he  left  the  capi- 
tal to  visit  the  eastern  and  southeastern  provinces. 

\_July  4.']    To  Chateau  Thiery,  following  the  course  of  the  Lack  of 
Marne.    The  country  is  pleasantly  varied,  and   hilly  enousjh  "^^^'^.  ^'^  *^^ 

1         .  .  .      .      ,         ,      Vt,,  .  .     provinces 

to  render  it  a  constant  picture,  were  it  inclosed.  Ihiery  is 
beautifully  situated  on  the  same  river.  I  arrived  there  by  five 
o'clock,  and  wished,  in  a  period  so  interesting  to  France  and 
indeed  to  all  Europe,  to  see  a  newspaper.  I  asked  for  a  coffee- 
house, —  not  one  in  the  town.  Here  are  two  parishes  and 
some  thousands  of  inhabitants,  and  not  a  newspaper  to  be 
seen  by  a  traveler,  even  in  a  moment  when  all  ought  to  be  in 
anxiety.  What  stupidity,  poverty,  and  want  of  circulation  ! 
This  people  hardly  deserve  to  be  free ;  and  should  there  be 
the  least  attempt  with  vigor  to  keep  them  otherwise,  it  can 
hardly  fail  of  succeeding.  To  those  who  have  been  used  to 
travel  amidst  the  energetic  and  rapid  circulation  of  wealth, 
animation,  and  intelligence  of  England,  it  is  not  possible  to 
describe  in  words  adequate  to  one's  feelings  the  dullness  and 
stupidity  of  France.  I  have  been  to-day  on  one  of  their 
greatest  roads,  within  thirty  miles  of  Paris,  yet  I  have  not  seen 
one  diligence,  and  met  but  a  single  gentleman's  carriage,  nor 
anything  else  on  the  road  that  looked  like  a  gentleman. 

Thomas  Jefferson  was  also  traveling  in  France  just 
before  the  Revolution,  and  it  is  interesting  to  compare 
his  observations  with  those  of  Arthur  Young.  He  took 
great  pains  to  discover  the  degree  of  comfort  which  the 
peasant  enjoyed,  and  was  surprised  to  find  it  so  great. 
He  writes  from  Nice  to  a  friend,  April  1 1,  1787  : 

1  See  below,  pp.  252  sqq. 


__^^-^^34         Readmgs  m  Alodcrn  European  History 

107.  Jeffer-       In  the  great  cities  I  go  to  see  what  travelers  think  alone 

son  finds      ^yorthy  of  being  seen ;  but  I  make  a  job  of  it  and  generally 

in  France     gulp  it  all  down  in  a  day.    On  the  other  hand,  I  am  never 

than  he        satiated  with  rambling  through  the  fields  and  farms,  examining 

expec  e       ^j^^  culture  and  cultivators  with  a  degree  of  curiosity  which 

makes  some  take  me  for  a  fool,  and  others  to  be  much  wiser 

than  I  am.    I  have  been  pleased  to  find  among  the  people  a 

less  degree  of  physical  misery  than  I  had  expected.    They  are 

generally  well  clothed  and  have  a  plenty  of  food,  —  not  animal, 

indeed,  but  vegetable,  which  is  just  as  wholesome.    Perhaps 

^      ^^.  Jhey  are  overworked,  the  excess  of  the  rent  required  by  the 

landlord  obliging  them  to  too  many  hours  of  labor  in  order  to 

produce  that  and  wherewith  to  feed  and  clothe  themselves. 

The   soil  of  Burgundy  and  Champagne   I   have  found   more 

universally  good  than  I  had  expected ;  and  as  I  could  not  help 

making  a  comparison  with  England,  I  found  that  comparison 

more  unfavorable  to  the  latter  than  is  generally  admitted.   The 

soil,  the  climate,  and  the  productions  are  superior  to  those  of 

England,  and  the  husbandry  as  good  except  in  one  point,  that 

of  manure. 

From  the  first  olive  fields  of  Pierrelatte  to  the  orangeries 
of  Hieres  has  been  continued  rapture  to  me.  I  have  often 
wished  for  you.  I  think  you  have  not  made  this  journey.  It 
is  a  pleasure  you  have  to  come,  and  an  improvement  you  have 
to  add  to  the  many  you  have  already  made.  It  will  be  a  great 
comfort  for  you  to  know,  from  your  own  inspection,  the  condi- 
tion of  all  the  provinces  of  your  own  country,  and  it  will  be 
interesting  to  them  at  some  future  day  to  be  known  to  you. 
This  is  perhaps  the  only  moment  of  your  life  in  which  you  can 
acquire  that  knowledge.  And  to  do  it  most  effectually  you 
must  be  absolutely  incognito ;  you  must  ferret  the  people  out 
of  their  hovels,  as  I  have  done,  look  into  their  kettles,  eat 
their  bread,  loll  on  their  beds  under  pretense  of  resting  your- 
self, but  in  fact  to  find  if  they  are  soft.  You  will  feel  a  sub- 
lime pleasure  in  the  course  of  this  investigation,  and  a  sublimer 
one  hereafter,  when  you  shall  be  able  to  apply  your  knowledge 
to  the  softening  of  their  beds  or  the  throwing  a  morsel  of  meat 
into  their  kettle  of  vegetables. 


The  Eve  of  the  Frejich  Revolution  235 

Section  JJ.    How  Louis  XVI  tried  to  play  the 
Benevolejit  Despot 

Louis  XV  died  of  smallpox,  May  10,  1774.  Marie 
Antoinette,  now  become  queen  at  eighteen,  writes  to 
her  mother  as  follows  : 

Choisy,  May  14,  1774 
Madame,  my  very  dear  Mother : 

Count  Mercy  ^  has  doubtless  informed  you  of  the  details  of  108.  Marie 
our  misfortune.    Happily  his  cruel  malady  left  the  kinej  fully  -A-ntoinette 

^     ^i,     1     :  .        J  1  •  J  1 -r  •         reports  to  her 

conscious  to  the  last  moment,  and  his  end  was  very  edifying,  mother  that 

The  new  king  seems  to  have  gained  the  heart  of  the  people,  she  is  now 
Two  days  before  his  grandfather's  death  he  had  two  hundred  *  ^"®®° 
thousand  francs  distributed  to  the  poor,  which  produced  a  fine 
effect.  Since  the  late  king's  death  he  has  worked  constantly, 
and  replies  with  his  own  hand  to  the  ministers,  whom  he  is 
not  able  to  see  yet,  and  to  many  other  letters.  One  thing  is 
certain ;  he  has  a  taste  for  economy,  and  his  greatest  anxiety 
is  to  make  his  people  happy.  In  short,  his  eagerness  to  learn 
is  equal  to  his  need  of  information,  and  I  trust  that  God  will 
bless  his  good  will. 

The  public  are  looking  for  many  changes  just  now.    But  the  Madame 
king  has  confined  himself  to  sending  away  that  creature  to  a  ^"  ^^"^ 
convent  and  driving  from  court  all  connected  with  her.    The  convent 
king  owed  this  example  to  the  people  of  Versailles,  who  at  the 
time  of  the  catastrophe  attacked  Madame  de  Mazarin,  one  of 
the  most  humble  domestics  of  the  favorite.    I  am  often  urged 
to  preach  clemency  to  the  king  toward  a  number  of  corrupt 
souls  who   have   been  up   to  much   evil  during  the  last  few 
years.  .  .  . 

They  have  just  come  to  forbid  me  to  visit  my  Aunt  Adelaide, 
who  has  a  high  fever  and  pain  in  her  loins  ;  they  fear  smallpox. 
I  tremble  and  dare  not  think  of  the  consequences.  It  is  terrible 
for  her  to  pay  so  speedily  for  the  sacrifice  she  has  made  [in 
nursing  the  late  king].    I  am  delighted  that  Marshall  Lascy 

1  The  ambassador  of  the  empire,  whom  Maria  Theresa  had  selected 
as  the  special  adviser  of  her  young  daughter  when  she  went  to  France. 


236  Readings  in  Modern  European  History 

was  pleased  with  me.  I  confess,  dear  mamma,  that  I  was  much 
affected  when  he  took  leave  of  me,  as  I  thought  how  rarely  it 
happened  that  I  saw  people  of  my  own  country,  particularly 
thosewhohave  the  additional  happiness  of  approaching  you.  .  .  . 

The  king  has  left  me,  as  queen,  free  to  fill  the  vacant  posi- 
tions in  my  household.  I  took  pleasure  in  according  a  mark 
of  attention  to  the  people  of  Lorraine  by  selecting  Abb^  Sabran 
as  my  first  almoner,  —  an  upright  man  of  exalted  birth  and 
already  appointed  to  the  bishopric  of  Nancy,  which  has  just 
been  created. 

Although  it  pleased  God  to  cause  me  to  be  born  to  the  sta- 
tion I  occupy  to-day,  I  cannot  but  wonder  at  the  dispensation 
of  Providence,  who  chose  me,  the  youngest  of  your  children, 
for  the  finest  kingdom  of  Europe.  I  feel  more  than  ever  all  that 
I  owe  to  the  affection  of  my  august  mother,  who  has  been  at 
such  pains  and  trouble  to  secure  this  beautiful  position  for  me. 
I  have  never  so  longed  to  be  able  to  throw  myself  at  her  feet, 
kiss  her,  show  her  my  whole  soul,  and  let  her  see  how  it  is  filled 
with  respect,  love,  and  gratitude.  .   .  . 

\_The  king  here  adds  in  his  own  ha?td :~\ 

I  am  very  glad  to  have  an  opportunity,  my  dear  mamma,  to 
express  my  love  and  attachment.  I  would  that  I  might  have 
your  advice  in  these  days  which  are  so  full  of  embarrassment. 
I  should  be  delighted  to  be  able  to  satisfy  you,  and  to  prove  in 
that  way  the  affection  and  gratitude  that  I  owe  you  for  granting 
me  your  daughter,  with  whom  I  could  not  be  better  satisfied. 

\_The  queen  then  closes :'\ 

The  king  would  not  let  my  letter  go  without  adding  a  word 
for  himself.  I  am  aware  that  he  might  have  been  expected 
to  write  a  letter  of  his  own,  but  I  beg  that  my  dear  mamma 
will  excuse  him  in  view  of  the  great  number  of  things  he 
has  to  occupy  him  and  also  a  little  on  account  of  his  natural 
timidity  and  shyness.  You  can  see,  dear  mamma,  by  what  he 
says  at  the  end,  that  while  he  is  fond  enough  of  me  he  does 
not  spoil  me  with  insipid  compliments. 

Turgot,  immediately  after  learning  from  Louis  XVI 
that  he  had  been  appointed  comptroller  general,  w  rote  the 


The  Eve  of  the  Ffeiich  Revolution  237 

following  touching  letter  to  that  inefficient  young  mon- 
arch, who  was  so  ready  to  desert  him  a  few  months 
later. 

COMPIEGNE,  August  24,  I774 

Sii'e  : 

Having  just  come  from  the  private  interview  with  which  your  109.  Turgot's 
Majesty  has  honored  me,  still  full  of  the  anxiety  produced  by  j^®**^^  *o  t^® 
the  immensity  of  the  duties  now  imposed  upon  me,  agitated  assuming 
by  all  the  feelings  excited  by  the  touching  kindness  with  which  office 
you  have  encouraged  me,  I  hasten  to  convey  to  you  my  respect-  j,-!^?"^*' 
ful  gratitude  and  the  devotion  of  my  whole  life. 

Your  Majesty  has  been  good  enough  to  permit  me  to  place 
on  record  the  engagement  you  have  taken  upon  you  to  sustain 
me  in  the  execution  of  those  plans  of  economy  which  are  at 
all  times,  and  to-day  more  than  ever,  an  indispensable  neces- 
sity. ...  At  this  moment,  sire,  I  confine  myself  to  recalling 
to  you  these  three  items  : 

No  bankruptcy. 

No  increase  of  taxes. 

No  loans. 

No  bankruptcy^  either  avowed,  or  disguised  in  the  form  of 
illegal  reductions. 

No  increase  of  taxes ;  the  reason  for  this  lying  in  the  con- 
dition of  your  people,  and,  still  more,  in  your  Majesty's  own 
generous  heart. 

No  loans ;  because  every  loan  always  diminishes  the  free 
revenue  and  necessitates,  at  the  end  of  a  certain  time,  either 
bankruptcy  or  the  increase  of  taxes.  In  times  of  peace  it  is 
permissible  to  borrow  only  in  order  to  liquidate  old  debts, 
or  in  order  to  redeem  other  loans  contracted  on  less  advanta- 
geous terms. 

To  meet  these  three  points  there  is  but  one  means.  It  is  to 
reduce  expenditure  below  the  revenue,  and  sufficiently  below  it 
to  insure  each  year  a  saving  of  twenty  millions,  to  be  applied 
to  redemption  of  the  old  debts.  Without  that,  the  first  gunshot 
will  force  the  State  into  bankruptcy. 

The  question  will  be  asked  incredulously,  "  On  what  can  we 
retrench?"  and  each  one,  speaking  for  his  own  department, 


238  Readings  in  Modern  European  History 

will  maintain  that  nearly  every  particular  item  of  expense  is  in- 
dispensable. They  will  be  able  to  allege  very  good  reasons  for 
their  claims,  but  these  must  all  yield  to  the  absolute  necessity 
of  economy.  .  .  . 

These  are  the  matters  which  I  have  been  permitted  to  recall 
to  your  Majesty.  You  will  not  forget  that  in  accepting  the  place 
of  comptroller  general  I  have  felt  the  full  value  of  the  confi- 
dence with  which  you  honor  me ;  I  have  felt  that  you  intrust 
to  me  the  happiness  of  your  people,  and,  if  it  be  permitted  to 
me  to  say  so,  the  care  of  promoting  among  your  people  the 
love  of  your  person  and  of  your  authority. 

At  the  same  time  I  feel  all  the  danger  to  which  I  expose 
myself.  I  foresee  that  I  shall  be  alone  in  fighting  against  abuses 
of  every  kind,  against  the  power  of  those  who  profit  by  these 
abuses,  against  the  crowd  of  prejudiced  people  who  oppose 
themselves  to  all  reform,  and  who  are  such  powerful  instru- 
ments in  the  hands  of  interested  parties  for  perpetuating  the 
disorder.  I  shall  have  to  struggle  even  against  the  natural 
goodness  and  generosity  of  your  Majesty,  and  of  the  persons 
who  are  most  dear  to  you.  I  shall  be  feared,  hated  even,  by 
nearly  all  the  court,  by  all  who  solicit  favors.  They  will  impute 
to  me  all  the  refusals;  they  will  describe  me  as  a  hard  man 
because  I  shall  have  advised  your  Majesty  that  you  ought 
not  to  enrich  at  the  expense  of  your  people's  subsistence  even 
those  that  you  love. 

And  this  people,  for  whom  I  shall  sacrifice  myself,  are  so 
easily  deceived  that  perhaps  I  shall  encounter  their  hatred  by 
the  very  measures  I  take  to  defend  them  against  exactions.  I 
shall  be  calumniated  (having,  perhaps,  appearances  against  me) 
in  order  to  deprive  me  of  your  Majesty's  confidence.  I  shall 
not  regret  losing  a  place  which  I  never  solicited.  I  am  ready 
to  resign  it  to  your  Majesty  as  soon  as  I  can  no  longer  hope  to 
be  useful  in  it.  .  .   . 

Your  Majesty  will  remember  that  it  is  upon  the  faith  of  your 
promises  made  to  me  that  I  charge  myself  with  a  burden  per- 
haps beyond  my  strength,  and  it  is  to  yourself  personally,  to 
the  upright  man,  the  just  and  good  man,  rather  than  to  the 
king,  that  I  give  myself. 


TJie  Eve  of  the  French  Revohiiiojt  239 

I  venture  to  repeat  here  what  you  have  already  been  kind 
enough  to  hear  and  approve  of.  The  affecting  kindness  with 
which  you  condescended  to  press  my  hands  within  your  own, 
as  if  seahng  my  devotion,  will  never  be  effaced  from  my 
memory.  It  will  sustain  my  courage.  It  has  forever  united 
my  personal  happiness  with  the  interest,  the  glory,  and  the 
happiness  of  your  Majesty.  It  is  with  these  sentiments  that 
I  am,  sire,  etc. 

Less  than  two  years  later,  in  a  letter  dated  May  15, 
1776,  Marie  Antoinette  writes  to  her  mother  :  "  Monsieur 
de  Malesherbes  retired  from  the  ministry  day  before 
yesterday  and  was  immediately  replaced  by  Monsieur 
Amelot.  Monsieur  Turgot  was  dismissed  the  same  day, 
and  Monsieur  de  Clugny  is  to  take  his  place.  I  confess, 
dear  mamma,  that  I  do  not  regret  the  departure  of  these 
men,  but  I  had  nothing  to  do  with  it."  Maria  Theresa 
replies  with  a  characteristic  warning : 

...  I  am  very  glad  that  you  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  no.  Maria 

dismissal  of  the  two  ministers,  who  enjoy  a  high  reputation  Theresa 

with  the  public  at  large  and  who,  in  my  opinion,  have  only  dTJ^hterof 

erred  in  attempting  to  do  too  much  at  once.    You  say  that  the  dangers 

you  do  not  regret  them.    Doubtless  you  have  good  reasons  ;  ^}.  ^^.^^^.  ^°^ 
,  r  1  111-  1  •  .      ,.,  dissipation 

but  of  late  the  public  no  longer  praises  you  as  it  did,  and 

attributes  to  you  all  sorts  of  little  intrigues  which  would  be 
most  unfitting  to  your  station.  The  king  loves  you  and  his 
ministers  should  respect  you.  By  asking  for  nothing  contrary 
to  the  established  order  and  general  welfare,  you  will  make 
yourself  both  loved  and  respected. 

My  only  fear  for  you  (being  so  young)  is  an  excess  of  dis- 
sipation. You  have  never  cared  to  read  or  to  apply  yourself  in 
any  way ;  this  has  often  troubled  me,  and  accounts  for  my 
having  tormented  you  so  often  with  inquiries  as  to  w^hat  you 
were  reading.  I  was  so  pleased  to  see  you  devoting  yourself 
to  music.  But  for  a  year  now  there  has  been  no  question  of 
either  reading  or  music,  and  I  hear  of  nothing  but  racing  and 


240  Readings  m  Modern  European  History 

hunting,  and  always  without  the  king  and  with  a  lot  of  ill-chosen 
young  people  ;  all  this  troubles  me  very  much,  loving  you,  as  I 
do,  so  dearly.  Your  sisters-in-law  behave  very  differently,  and 
I  must  own  that  all  these  boisterous  diversions  in  which  the 
king  takes  no  part  appear  to  me  unseemly.  You  will  say,  "  He 
knows  and  approves  of  them."  I  reply  that  he  is  kind  and 
good  and  that  that  is  all  the  more  reason  that  you  should  be 
circumspect  and  arrange  your  pleasures  together. 

In  February  of  the  following  year  a  projected  visit  of 
the  Emperor  Joseph  II  to  Paris  seemed  likely  to  be 
abandoned.  His  mother,  Maria  Theresa,  who  had  great 
hopes  of  happy  results  from  it,  both  personal  and  polit- 
ical, writes  to  Marie  Antoinette  as  follows  : 

Vienna,  February  3,  1777 

III.  Maria  ...  As  I  desire  nothing  else  in  this  world  but  the  good  of 

Theresa  on      q^j.  j^Q^y  religion,  the  happiness  of  my  dear,  and  more  than 

situation  in     dear,  children,  the  welfare  of  our  states,  and  the  felicity  of  our 

1777  peoples,  whom  I  love  just  as  sincerely  as  my  children,  so  I  long 

to  see  not  only  our  houses  and  our  interests  bound  together 

closely  and   indissolubly,  as   indeed   they  already  are,  but  a 

cordial  personal  friendship  as  well,  which  will  bear  every  test 

and  which  no  minister  or  other  envious  power  shall  ever  be 

able  to  change  or  diminish.    The  emperor  and  the  king  are 

both  so  young,  and  both  have  such  good  and  generous  hearts, 

that  I  believe  my  hopes  to  be  well  founded  if  only  they  can 

learn  to  know  each  other  and  establish  that  mutual  confidence 

which  will  be  so  useful  and  so  necessary  to  them  in  their  political 

careers,  for  their  own  happiness  and  that  of  their  countries, — 

indeed,  for  all  Europe. 

These  reflections  of  a  doting  old  mother  and  sovereign  have 
led  me  to  send  off  new  instructions  to  Mercy,  directing  him  to 
furnish  you  with  information  and  arrange  with  you  as  to  the 
policy  to  be  adopted  toward  your  ministers.  There  are  matters 
of  the  highest  importance  which  I  can  only  touch  upon  in  pass- 
ing. The  quarrels  between  the  Turks  and  the  Russians  and 
between  Spain  and  Portugal,  as  well  as  the  war  in  America, 


The  Eve  of  the  French  Revolution  241 

may  well  bring  about  a  general  conflagration  into  which  I  shall 
be  drawn  in  spite  of  myself ;  particularly  as  it  is  necessary  to 
act  with  the  greatest  caution  on  account  of  our  bad  neighbor,^ 
whose  persistent  enmity  toward  us  is  greatly  increased  since 
we  have  ventured  to  oppose  his  unjust  designs  in  Poland  and 
elsewhere.  He  is  performing  the  impossible  in  the  effort  to 
frustrate,  or  at  least  to  weaken,  our  influence  in  all  the  courts 
of  Europe ;  he  sticks  at  no  calumny,  and  especially  in  France, 
and  it  is  this  that  makes  me  doubly  regret  that  the  interview 
between  Joseph  II  and  Louis  XVI  has  not  taken  place.  The 
delight  of  the  king  of  Prussia  is  a  sure  sign  of  the  importance 
he  attached  to  it,  and  should  serve  to  unite  us  all  the  closer, 
for  united  neither  he  nor  any  one  dare  molest  us. 

I  cannot  conceal  from  you  that  scandal  has  not  spared  you 
personally,  and  I  have  mentioned  to  Mercy  several  darts  of 
slander  that  have  long  disquieted  me  in  regard  to  your  amuse- 
ments, games,  excursions;  that- you  were  on  bad  terms  with 
the  king,  —  that  you  no  longer  share  his  bed,  but  want  to  sit 
up  all  night  playing  cards,  which  the  king  does  not  like ;  that 
you  were  alarmed  at  the  prospect  of  your  brother's  visit, — 
that  you  did  not  in  the  least  desire  it,  and  that  you  are  now 
delighted  to  be  left  free  to  pursue  your  pleasures.  Such  are 
the  tales  that  are  sent  out  from  Berlin  to  Saxony,  Poland, 
everywhere ;  and  I  confess  that  for  several  months  they  have 
caused  me  increasing  dismay.  My  only  consolation  is,  that  as 
atrocious  slanders  are  promulgated  about  the  emperor  and  my- 
self, it  must  be  the  same  with  you ;  but,  my  dear  daughter,  the 
newspapers  but  confirm  these  accounts  of  the  various  amuse- 
ments in  which  my  dear  queen  joins  without  her  sisters-in-law 
or  the  king,  and  they  give  me  many  sad  hours.  I  love  you  so 
tenderly  that  I  cannot  but  look  ahead  into  the  future,  and  I 
entreat  you  to  do  the  same. 

No  doubt  the  influence  of  the  American  Revolution 
upon  French  affairs  has  commonly  been  much  exag- 
gerated, since  there  is  every  reason  to  suppose  that  the 

1  Namely,  Frederick  the  Great  of  Prussia. 


242  Readings  in  Modern  European  History 

example  of  the  colonists  did  not  really  modify  essentially 
the  trend  of  affairs  in  France  toward  reform.  The 
course  of  events  can  be  readily  explained  even  if  the 
American  war  be  quite  eliminated  from  consideration. 
Yet  the  embarrassment  of  the  treasury  which  resulted 
from  France's  intervention  in  the  war,  and  the  liberal 
ideas  which  it  suggested  to  some  of  the  nobility,  may 
have  hastened  the  French  Revolution.  Count  Segur, 
looking  back  long  years  after  the  events  he  narrates, 
thus  describes  the  intervention  of  France  in  the  strug- 
gle of  the  American  colonists. 

112.  How  At  this  time  Liberty,  which  had  been  hushed  in  the  civilized 

France  world  for  so  many  centuries,  awoke  in  another  hemisphere  and 

interested  engaged  in  a  glorious  struggle  against  an  ancient  monarchy 

in  the  which  enjoyed  the  most  redoubtable  power.    England,  confi- 

Amencan  ^  ^^    £  j^.^  g^j-gnath,  had  subsidized  and  dispatched  forty  thou- 

Revolution  ^     .'                -r,       ,  •     ^  -i            •      •             n        i 

(From  the  sand  men  to  America  to  stifle  this  Liberty  m  its  cradle ;  but  a 

Memoires    whole  nation  which  longs  for  freedom  is  scarce  to  be  vanquished. 

of  S6gur)  rpj^^  bravery  of  these  new  republicans  won  esteem  in  all  parts 
of  Europe  and  enlisted  the  sympathies  of  the  friends  of  jus- 
tice and  humanity.  The  young  men  especially,  who  although 
brought  up  in  the  midst  of  monarchies  had  by  a  singular  anom- 
aly been  nurtured  in  admiration  for  the  great  writers  of  antiq- 
uity and  the  heroes  of  Greece  and  Rome,  carried  to  the  point 
of  enthusiasm  the  interest  which  the  American  insurrection 
inspired  in  them. 

The  French  government,  which  desired  the  weakening  of 
the  power  of  England,  was  gradually  drawn  on  by  this  liberal 
opinion,  which  showed  itself  in  so  energetic  a  manner.  At  first 
it  secretly  furnished  arms,  munitions,  and  money  to  the  Ameri- 
cans, or  permitted  supplies  to  reach  them  by  French  ships  ; 
but  it  was  too  weak  to  venture  to  declare  itself  openly  in  their 
favor,  affecting  on  the  contrary  an  appearance  of  strict  neu- 
trality and  so  far  blinding  itself  as  to  imagine  that  its  secret 
measures  would  not  be  suspected,  and  that  it  might  ruin  its 
rival  without  incurring  the  danger  of  meeting  it  in  the  open 


The  Eve  of  the  F^'eiich  RezwbUion  243 

field.  Such  an  illusion  could  not  last  long,  and  the  English 
cabinet  was  too  clear-sighted  to  let  us  gain  the  advantages  of 
a  war  without  incurring  any  of  its  risks. 

The  veil  became  more  and  more  transparent  daily.  Soon 
the  American  envoys,  Silas  Deane  and  Arthur  Lee,  arrived  in 
Paris,  and  shortly  after  the  famous  Benjamin  Franklin  joined 
them.  It  would  be  difficult  to  express  the  enthusiasm  and  favor 
with  which  they  were  welcomed  in  France,  into  the  midst  of 
an  old  monarchy,  —  these  envoys  of  a  people  in  insurrection 
against  their  king.  Nothing  could  be  more  striking  than  the 
contrast  between  the  luxury  of  our  capital,  the  elegance  of 
our  fashions,  the  magnificence  of  Versailles,  the  polished  but 
haughty  arrogance  of  our  nobles, — in  short  all  those  living  signs 
of  the  monarchical  pride  of  Louis  XIV,  —  with  the  almost 
rustic  dress  of  the  envoys,  their  simple  if  proud  demeanor, 
their  frank,  direct  speech,  their  plain,  unpowdered  hair,  and, 
finally,  that  flavor  of  antiquity  which  seemed  to  bring  suddenly 
within  our  walls  and  into  the  midst  of  the  soft  and  servile  civ- 
ilization of  the  seventeenth  century  these  sage  contemporaries 
of  Plato,  or  republicans  of  Cato's  or  Fabius's  time. 

This  unexpected  sight  delighted  us  the  more  both  because 
it  was  novel  and  because  it  came  at  just  the  period  when  our 
literature  and  philosophy  had  spread  everywhere  among  us  a 
desire  for  reform,  a  leaning  toward  innovation,  and  a  lively 
love  for  liberty.  The  clash  of  arms  served  to  excite  still  more 
the  ardor  of  war-loving  young  men,  since  the  deliberate  caution 
of  our  ministers  irritated  us,  and  we  were  weary  of  a  long  peace 
which  had  lasted  more  than  ten  years.  Every  one  was  burning 
with  a  desire  to  repay  the  affronts  of  the  last  war,  to  fight  the 
English,  and  to  fly  to  the  succor  of  the  Americans.   .   .  . 

The  young  French  officers,  who  breathed  nothing  but  war, 
hastened  to  the  American  envoys,  questioned  them  upon  the 
situation,  the  resources  of  Congress,  the  means  of  defense, 
and  demanded  all  the  various  bits  of  news  which  were  con- 
stantly being  received  from  that  great  theater  where  freedom 
was  fighting  so  valiantly  against  British  tyranny.  .  .  .  Silas 
Deane  and  Arthur  Lee  did  not  disguise  the  fact  that  the  aid 
of  some  well-trained   officers  would   be  both  agreeable   and 


244  Readings  in  Modern  European  History 


y 


113.  Necker 
reviews  his 
own  adminis- 
tration 


useful.  They  even  informed  us  that  they  were  authorized  to 
promise  to  those  who  would  embrace  their  cause  a  rank  appro- 
priate to  their  services. 

The  American  troops  already  included  in  their  ranks  several 
European  volunteers  whom  the  love  of  glory  and  independence 
had  attracted.  .  .  .  The  first  three  Frenchmen  of  distinguished 
rank  at  court  who  offered  the  aid  of  their  service  to  the  Ameri- 
cans were  the  marquis  of  Lafayette,  the  viscount  of  Noailles, 
and  myself. 

Shortly  after  his  retirement  in  1781,  Necker  set  to 
work  to  write  A  Treatise  on  the  Adrninistratio7i  of  the 
Finances  of  France.  In  the  introduction  to  this  he  speaks 
of  his  recent  experiences  as  minister  of  finance. 

The  review  I  take  of  my  past  administration  occasions,  I  con- 
fess, neither  remorse  nor  repentance  :  possibly  I  may  even 
find  in  it  some  actions  the  remembrance  of  which  will  shed  a 
happy  influence  over  the  remainder  of  my  days;  possibly  I 
may  recall  that,  if  it  had  not  been  for  the  revival  and  support 
of  public  confidence,  the  enemies  of  the  king  —  who  relied  on 
the  effects  of  the  former  disorder  and  low  state  of  public  credit 
in  France  —  might  have  gained  advantages  that  have  escaped 
them ;  possibly  I  may  think  that  if,  in  the  first  years  of  the 
war,  I  had  been  obliged  to  furnish  the  resources  of  a  prudent 
government  by  taxes  or  rigorous  operations,  the  poor  would 
have  been  very  unhappy,  and  the  other  classes  of  citizens 
would  have  taken  alarm. 

Yet,  to  balance  these  pleasing  recollections,  I  shall  always 
behold  the  empty  shadow  of  the  more  lively  and  pure  satis- 
factions that  my  administration  was  deprived  of ;  I  shall  have 
always  present  to  my  mind  those  benefits  of  every  kind  which 
it  would  have  been  so  easy  to  have  effected  if  the  fruits  of  so 
many  solicitudes,  instead  of  being  appropriated  solely  to  the 
extraordinary  expenses  of  the  State,  could  have  been  applied 
daily  to  augment  the  happiness  and  prosperity  of  the  people. 

Alas  !  what  might  not  have  been  done  under  other  circum- 
stances !    It  wounds  my  heart  to  think  of  it !    I  labored  during 


The  Eve  of  the  FrencJi  Revoliitioii  245 

the  storm ;  I  put  the  ship,  as  it  were,  afloat  again,  and  others 
enjoy  the  command  of  her  in  the  days  of  peace  !  But  such  is 
the  fate  of  men ;  that  Providence  which  searches  the  human 
heart  and  finds  even  in  the  virtues  on  which  we  pride  ourselves 
some  motives  which  are  not  perhaps  pure  enough  in  its  sight, 
takes  a  delight  in  disappointing  the  most  pardonable  of  all 
passions,  namely,  that  of  the  love  of  glory  and  of  the  good 
opinion  of  the  public.   .  .  . 

I  regret,  and  I  have  made  no  secret  of  it,  that  I  was  inter- 
rupted in  the  middle  of  my  career,  and  that  I  was  not  able  to 
finish  what  I  had  conceived  for  the  good  of  the  State  and  for 
the  honor  of  the  kingdom.  I  have  not  the  hypocritical  vanity 
to  affect  a  deceitful  serenity,  which  would  be  too  nearly  allied 
to  indifference  to  deserve  a  place  among  the  virtues.  That 
moment  will  be  long  present  to  my  mind  when,  some  days 
after  my  resignation,  being  occupied  in  assorting  and  classifying 
my  papers,  I  came  across  those  that  contained  my  various  ideas 
for  future  reforms,  and  more  especially  the  plans  I  had  formed 
for  ameliorating  the  salt  tax,  for  the  suppression  of  every 
customhouse  in  the  interior  parts  of  the  kingdom,  and  for  the 
extension  of  the  provincial  administrations  :  —  I  could  proceed 
no  farther,  and  pushing  away  all  these  notes  by  a  kind  of  in- 
voluntary motion,  I  covered  my  face  with  my  hands,  and  a 
flood  of  tears  overpowered  me. 

After  tracing  the  growth  of  public  opinion  in  France, 
Necker  continues  : 

A  great  many  foreigners,  from  various  causes,  cannot  have  114.  Necker 
a  just  notion  of  the  authority  that  is  exercised  in  France  by  °J  the  sway 
public  opinion.    They  cannot  comprehend  the  nature  of  an  opinion  in 
invisible   power  which,  destitute   of  treasury,  of  guards  and  France 
armies,  dictates  its  laws  in  the  capital,  in  the  court,  and  even 
in  the  king's  palace.    Nevertheless  nothing  is  more  true  nor 
more  remarkable  ;  and  we  shall  cease  to  wonder  at  it  if  we 
reflect  on  what  must  be  the  consequences  of   the  spirit  of 
society  when  that  spirit  has  an  unbounded  sway  over  a  sen- 
sible people,  who  love  not  only  to  judge  but  to  make  a  figure 


246  Readings  in  Modern  European  History 

in  the  world  ;  who  are  not  divided  by  political  interests,  weak- 
ened  by  despotism,  or  overcome  by  turbulent  passions ;  lastly, 
over  a  nation  in  which,  perhaps,  a  general  propensity  to  imita- 
tion produces  a  multiplicity  of  opinions  and  weakens  the  force 
of  those  that  are  too  singular,  so  that  being  commonly  united 
together,  and  resembling  billows  that  are  more  or  less  impet- 
uous, they  have  a  very  powerful  ascendant  while  they  are  in 
motion.  .  .  . 

Let  us  appreciate  the  full  value  of  so  salutary  an  authority ; 
let  us  rally  ourselves,  in  order  to  defend  it  against  those  it 
annoys  and  who  would  destroy  it.  It  is  that  authority  alone 
which  sets  bounds  to  the  mischievous  progress  of  indifference  : 
in  the  midst  of  a  depraved  age  its  voice  alone  is  attended  to, 
and  it  seems  to  preside  in  the  tribunal  of  honor. 

I  will  go  still  farther  :  it  is  the  ascendency  of  public  opinion 
that  opposes  more  obstacles  in  France  to  the  abuse  of  power 
than  any  other  consideration  whatsoever.  Yes,  it  is  entirely  by 
that  opinion,  and  the  esteem  in  which  it  is  still  held,  that  the 
nation  has  a  kind  of  influence,  by  having  it  in  its  power  to 
reward  with  praise,  or  punish  with  contempt.  If  ever  that 
opinion  is  entirely  despised,  or  if  it  ever  grows  too  weak,  then 
liberty  will  lose  its  principal  support,  and  there  will  be  a  greater 
necessity  than  ever  that  the  sovereign  should  be  virtuous  and 
his  ministers  moderate.  .  .  . 
Importance  in  Preambles  to  edicts  are  a  form  peculiar  to  the  French  gov- 
France  of        ernment.    Under  the  empire  of  despotism  the  sovereim  dis- 

preambles  to  .  .  .        .      .  ,      .  .  , 

edicts  dams  to  nistruct  his  subjects,  or  is  afraid  of  accustoming  them 

to  reflect  and  argue.  In  free  countries,  on  the  other  hand, 
such  as  England,  every  new  law  being  discussed  in  the  assembly 
of  the  representatives  of  the  nation,  the  people  are  well  in- 
formed, or  at  least  reputed  to  be  so,  at  the  moment  these  laws 
are  determined  upon ;  and  every  individual  may  know  the 
motives  for  making  them  from  the  collection  of  parliamentary 
debates  or  from  the  public  papers. 

But  in  France,  where  there  are  no  national  assemblies,  and 
where  nevertheless  the  laws  of  the  sovereign  must  be  registered 
by  the  supreme  courts,  —  in  France  where  the  monarch  enter- 
tains a  certain  regard  for  the  national  character,  and  where  the 


The  Eve  of  the  FrencJi  Revolution  247 

ministers  themselves  are  made  sensible  every  hour  that  they 
stand  in  need  of  the  public  approbation,  —  it  has  been  thought 
essential  to  explain  the  motives  of  the  will  of  the  sovereign, 
when  that  will  manifests  itself  to  the  people  whether  under 
the  form  of  edicts  or  of  simple  proclamations  of  the  king's 
council. 


CHAPTER  XII 

THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION 

Sectio7i  J^.    How  the  Estates  General  ivere 
summoned  i)i  lySg 

The  cahiers,  drawn  up  in  accordance  with  an  ancient 
custom  by  the  three  orders  of  the  realm,  form  one  of 
the  most  extraordinary  historical  documents  of  all  time. 
The  conditions  under  which  they  were  drafted  were,  on 
the  whole,  favorable  to  a  frank  and  general  expression 
on  the  part  of  all  classes  of  the  French  people  of  their 
suggestions  for  reform.  A  portion  of  one  of  the  cahiers 
of  the  third  estate,  selected  somewhat  at  random,  is 
given  below. ^ 

115.  Cdhier  Cahier  of  the  grievances,  co7nplaints,  and  protests  of  the  electo- 

of  the  third        j.^i  district  of  Carcasso?i7ie,  drawn  tip  by  the  co7nmissio7iers 

estate  of  ^  j:     y 

Carcas-  iia77ied  by  the  general  assembly  of  the  thi7-d  estate  a7id  based 

Sonne  ypon  the  va7'ious  cahiers  7'eceived fro77i  the  several  co77i77iuni- 

ties  of  the  said  dist7-ict : 

The  third  estate  of  the  electoral  district  of  Carcassonne, 
desiring  to  give  to  a  beloved  monarch,  and  one  so  worthy 
of  our  affection,  the  most  unmistakable  proof  of  its  love  and 
respect,  of  its  gratitude  and  fidelity,  desiring  to  cooperate  with 
the  whole  nation  in  repairing  the  successive  misfortunes  which 
have  overwhelmed  it,  and  with  the  hope  of  reviving  once  more 

^  A  cahier  of  a  single  order  in  one  electoral  district  would  fill  several 
pages  of  this  volume,  and  all  those  prepared  to  be  taken  to  Versailles 
occupy  together,  when  printed,  six  compactly  printed  quarto  volumes. 
Professor  Whitcomb  has  translated  a  typical  cahier  of  each  of  the 
orders  in    Translations  atid  Reprints,  Vol.  IV,  No.  5. 

248 


The  French  Revolution  249 

its  ancient  glory,  declares  that  the  happiness  of  the  nation 
must,  in  their  opinion,  depend  upon  that  of  its  king,  upon 
the  stability  of  the  monarchy,  and  upon  the  preservation  of  the 
orders  which  compose  it  and  of  the  fundamental  laws  which 
govern  it : 

Considering,  too,  that  a  holy  respect  for  religion,  morality, 
civil  liberty,  and  the  rights  of  property,  a  speedy  return  to  true 
principles,  a  careful  discrimination  and  due  measure  in  the 
matter  of  the  taxes,  a  strict  proportionality  in  their  assessment, 
a  persistent  economy  in  government  expenditures,  and  indis- 
pensable reforms  in  all  branches  of  the  administration,  are  the 
best  and  perhaps  the  only  means  of  perpetuating  the  existence 
of  the  monarchy  : 

The  third  estate  of  the  electoral  district  of  Carcassonne  very 
humbly  petitions  his  Majesty  to  take  into  consideration  these 
several  matters,  weigh  them  in  his  wisdom,  and  permit  his 
people  to  enjoy,  as  soon  as  may  be,  fresh  proofs  of  that  benev- 
olence which  he  has  never  ceased  to  exhibit  toward  them  and 
which  is  dictated  by  his  affection  for  them. 

In  view  of  the  obligation  imposed  by  his  Majesty's  command 
that  the  third  estate  of  this  district  should  confide  to  his  pater- 
nal ear  the  causes  of  the  ills  which  afflict  them  and  the  means 
by  which  they  may  be  remedied  or  moderated,  they  believe  that 
they  are  fulfilling  the  duties  of  faithful  subjects  and  zealous  citi- 
zens in  submitting  to  the  consideration  of  the  nation,  and  to  the 
sentiments  of  justice  and  affection  which  his  Majesty  entertains 
for  his  subjects,  the  following  : 

1.  Public  worship  should  be  confined  to  the  Roman  Cath-  Roman 
olic  apostolic  religion,  to  the  exclusion  of  all  other  forms  of  ^JJ[^°^j!^^ 
worship  ;   its  extension  should  be  promoted  and  the  most  effi- 
cient measures  taken  to  reestablish  the  discipline  of  the  Church 

and  increase  its  prestige. 

2.  Nevertheless  the  civil  rights  of  those  of  the  king's  subjects  Treatment  of 
who  are  not  Catholics  should  be  confirmed,  and  they  should  be  non-Catholics 
admitted  to  positions  and  offices  in  the  public  administration, 

without  however  extending  this  privilege  —  which  reason  and 
humanity  alike  demand  for  them  —  to  judicial  or  police  func- 
tions or  to  those  of  public  instruction. 


250  Readings  i?t  Modern  European  History 

Abolition  of        3.  The  nation  should  consider  some  means  of  abolishing  the 
papal  dues     annates  and  all  other  dues  paid  to  the  holy  see,  to  the  prejudice 

and  against  the  protests  of  the  whole  French  people. 

[Pluralities  should  be  prohibited,  monasteries  reduced  in 

numbers,  and  holidays  suppressed  or  decreased.] 


Granting  of 
subsidies 


Regular 
meetings  of 
the  Estates 
General 


Vote  by 
head 


No  exemp- 
tions from 
taxes 

Privileges  of 
the  nobility 
in  holding 
office  to  be 
abolished 


Lettres  de 
Cachet 


7.  The  rights  which  have  just  been  restored  to  the  nation 
should  be  consecrated  as  fundamental  principles  of  the  mon- 
archy, and  their  perpetual  and  unalterable  enjoyment  should 
be  assured  by  a  solemn  law,  which  should  so  define  the  rights 
both  of  the  monarch  and  of  the  people  that  their  violation 
shall  hereafter  be  impossible. 

8.  Among  these  rights  the  following  should  be  especially 
noted  :  the  nation  should  hereafter  be  subject  only  to  such 
laws  and  taxes  as  it  shall  itself  freely  ratify. 

9.  The  meetings  of  the  Estates  General  of  the  kingdom  should 
be  fixed  for  definite  periods,  and  the  subsidies  judged  neces- 
sary for  the  support  of  the  State  and  the  public  service  should 
be  voted  for  no  longer  a  period  than  to  the  close  of  the  year 
in  which  the  next  meeting  of  the  Estates  General  is  to  occur. 

10.  In  order  to  assure  to  the  third  estate  the  influence  to 
w^hich  it  is  entitled  in  view  of  the  number  of  its  members, 
the  amount  of  its  contributions  to  the  public  treasury,  and  the 
manifold  interests  which  it  has  to  defend  or  promote  in  the 
national  assemblies,  its  votes  in  the  assembly  should  be  taken 
and  counted  by  head. 

11.  No  order,  corporation,  or  individual  citizen  may  lay 
claim  to  any  pecuniary  exemptions.  .  .  .  All  taxes  should  be 
assessed  on  the  same  system  throughout  the  nation. 

12.  The  due  exacted  from  commoners  holding  fiefs  should 
be  abolished,  and  also  the  general  or  particular  regulations 
which  exclude  members  of  the  third  estate  from  certain  posi- 
tions, offices,  and  ranks  which  have  hitherto  been  bestowed  on 
nobles  either  for  life  or  hereditarily.  A  law  should  be  passed 
declaring  members  of  the  third  estate  qualified  to  fill  all  such 
ofiices  for  which  they  are  judged  to  be  personally  fitted. 

13.  Since  individual  liberty  is  intimately  associated  with  na- 
tional liberty,  his  Majesty  is  hereby  petitioned  not  to  permit 


The  Fi'ench  Revolution  251 

that  it  be  hereafter  interfered  with  by  arbitrary  orders  for 
imprisonment.  .   .  . 

14.  Freedom  should  be  granted  also  to  the  press,  which  Freedom  of 
should  however  be  subjected,  by  means  of  strict  regulations,  *^^  P*"^^^ 
to  the  principles  of  religion,  morality,  and  public  decency. 

60.  The  third  estate  of  the  district  of  Carcassonne  places 
its  trust,  for  the  rest,  in  the  zeal,  patriotism,  honor,  and  prob- 
ity of  its  deputies  in  the  National  Assembly  in  all  matters  which 
may  accord  with  the  beneficent  views  of  his  Majesty,  the  wel- 
fare of  the  kingdom,  the  union  of  the  three  estates,  and  the 
public  peace. 

Madame  de  Campan,  one  of  the  queen's  ladies  in  wait- 
ing, gives  some  account  in  her  well-known  Memoirs  of 
the  arrival  of  the  deputies  of  the  third  estate  and  of  their 
prejudice  against  Marie  Antoinette  and  the  court.  ^^ 

The  Estates  General  opened  May  4.    For  the  last  time  the  116.  The 

queen  appeared  in  royal  magnificence.   .   .   .    The  first  session  opening  of 

of  the  Estates  was  held   next  day.    The  king  delivered  his  General 

address  with  assurance  and  dignity.    The  queen  told  me  that  (From 

he  gave  the  matter  much  attention,  and  rehearsed  his  speech  Madame  de 
r  1      •  1  c    ^       •  Campan's 

frequently  m  order  to  be  quite  master  of  the  mtonations  of  his  Memoirs) 

voice.  His  Majesty  gave  public  indications  of  his  attachment 
and  deference  for  the  queen,  who  was  applauded ;  but  it  was 
easy  to  see  that  the  applause  was  really  meant  for  the  king  alone. 

From  the  very  early  sessions  it  was  clear  that  Mirabeau  Mirabeau  and 
would  prove  very  dangerous  to  the  government.  It  is  alleged  *^^  ^°^^^ 
that  he  revealed  at  this  time  to  the  king,  and  more  particu- 
larly to  the  queen,  a  part  of  the  plans  he  had  in  mind,  and 
the  conditions  upon  which  he  would  abandon  them.  He  had 
already  exhibited  the  weapons  with  which  his  eloquence  and 
audacity  furnished  him,  in  order  that  he  might  open  negoti- 
ations with  the  party  he  proposed  to  attack.  This  man  played 
at  revolution  in  order  to  gain  a  fortune.  The  queen  told  me 
at  this  time  that  he  asked  for  an  embassy,  —  Constantinople,  if  I 
remember  rightly.    He  was  refused  with  that  proper  contempt 


252  Readings  in  Modern  Enropeaji  History 

which  vice  inspires,  but  which  poHcy  would  doubtless  best  have 
disguised,  if  the  future  could  have  been  foreseen.^ 
Alarm  of  the        The  general  enthusiasm  which  prevailed  during  the  early 
court  sessions  of  the  Assembly,  the  discussions  among  the  deputies 

of  the  third  estate  and  nobility,  and  even  of  the  clergy,  filled 
their  Majesties  and  those  attached  to  the  cause  of  monarchy 
with  increasing  alarm.  .  .  .  The  deputies  of  the  third  estate 
arrived  at  Versailles  with  the  deepest  prejudices  against  the 
court.  The  wicked  sayings  of  Paris  never  fail  to  spread  through- 
out the  provinces.  The  deputies  believed  that  the  king  indulged 
in  the  pleasures  of  the  table  to  a  shameful  excess.  They  were 
persuaded  that  the  queen  exhausted  the  treasury  of  the  State 
to  gratify  the  most  unreasonable  luxury. 

Almost  all  wished  to  visit  the  Little  Trianon.^  The  extreme 
simplicity  of  this  pleasure  house  did  not  correspond  with  their 
ideas.  Some  insisted  that  they  be  shown  even  the  smallest 
closets,  on  the  ground  that  some  richly  furnished  apartments 
were  being  concealed  from  them.  At  last  they  designated  one 
which  they  declared  was  said  to  be  decorated  throughout  with 
diamonds  and  twisted  columns  set  with  sapphires  and  rubies. 
The  queen  could  not  get  these  silly  ideas  out  of  her  head  and 
told  the  king  about  them.  He  thought,  from  the  description 
of  the  room  furnished  to  the  guards  in  the  Trianon,  that  the 
deputies  had  in  mind  the  decoration  of  imitation  diamonds  in 
the  theater  at  Fontainebleau  constructed  in  Louis  XV's  reign. 

Arthur  Young  (see  above,  p.  229)  arrived  in  Paris 
about  a  month  after  the  Estates  had  come  together. 
He  reports  (June  8,  1789): 

117.  Arthur        The  king,  court,  nobility,  clergy,  army,  and  parliament  [i.e. 

Young  visits  parlements'\  are  nearly  in  the  same  situation.   All  these  consider 
the  National  ^  .  ,  ,    i         i     ,       -i  r   i-i  n  i 

Assembly      ^^'^^h  equal  dread  the  ideas  of  liberty  now  afloat,  except  the 


(June,  1789) 


1  The  queen  abhorred  Mirabeau,  who  had  scandalized  even  the  court 
by  his  private  immorality.  His  attempts  to  save  the  king  and  queen 
(see  below,  pp.  262  sqq?)  were  viewed  as  vulgar  plots  for  his  own 
advancement. 

2  A  simple  little  pleasure  house  in  a  secluded  part  of  the  gardens  at 
Versailles,  much  beloved  by  the  queen  on  account  of  its  retirement. 


The  French  Revolution  253 

first,  who,  for  reasons  obvious  to  those  who  know  his  character, 
troubles  himself  little,  even  with  circumstances  that  concern 
his  power  the  most  intimately.  .  .  . 

The  business  going  forward  at  present  in  the  pamphlet  shops  The  in- 
of  Paris  is  incredible.    I  went  to  the  Palais  Royal  to  see  what  ""^^y^^^^ 

1  •  1  T  1      1  1  1  r      11     pamphlets 

new  thmgs  were  published,  and  to  procure  a  catalogue  of  all. 
Every  hour  produces  something  new.  Thirteen  came  out  to- 
day, sixteen  yesterday,  and  ninety-two  last  week. 

Nineteen  twentieths  of  these  productions  are  in  favor  of  lib- 
erty, and  commonly  violent  against  the  clergy  and  the  nobility. 
I  have  to-day  bespoke  many  of  this  description  that  have  repu- 
tation ;  but  inquiring  for  such  as  had  appeared  on  the  other 
side  of  the  question,  to  my  astonishment  I  find  there  are  but 
two  or  three  that  have  merit  enough  to  be  known. 

But  the  coffee-houses  in  the  Palais  Royal  present  yet  more  The  speakers 
singular  and  astonishing  spectacles  :   they  are  not  only  crowded  ^*  *^^  Palais 
within,  but  other  expectant  crowds  are  at  the  doors  and  windows,  paris 
listening  a  gorge  deploye  to  certain  orators,  who  from  chairs  or 
tables  harangue  each  his  little  audience.    The  eagerness  with 
which  they  are  heard,  and  the  thunder  of  applause  they  receive 
for  every  sentiment  of  more  than  common  hardiness  or  violence 
against  the  present  government,  cannot  easily  be  imagined.    I 
am  all  amazement  at  the  ministry  permitting  such  nests  and 
hotbeds  of  sedition  and  revolt,  which  disseminate  amongst  the 
people  every  hour  principles  that  by  and  by  must  be  opposed 
with  vigor;  and  therefore  it  seems  little  short  of  madness  to 
allow  the  propagation  at  present. 

Everything  conspires  to  render  the  present  period  in  France  Scarcity 
critical.    The  want  of  bread  is  terrible ;  accounts  arrive  every  °^  ^"^'^ 
moment  from  the  provinces  of  riots  and  disturbances,  and  call- 
ing in  the  military  to  preserve  the  peace  of  the  markets.  .  .  . 

June  75.    This  has  been  a  rich  day,  and  such  an  one  as  ten  Arthur  Young 
years  ago  none  could  believe  would  ever  arrive  in  France  :  a  describes  the 

111-  1  1  •  TT  important 

very  important  debate  being  expected  on  what,  in  our  House  session  of 
of  Commons,  would  be  termed  the  state  of  the  nation.    My  June  15 
friend,  Monsieur  Lazowski,  and  myself  were  at  Versailles  at 
eight  in  the  morning.    We  went  immediately  to  the  hall  of 
the  estates  to  secure  good  seats  in  the  gallery;  we  found  some 


2  54  Readings  iji  Modem  Enropeaii  History 

deputies  already  there,  and  a  pretty  numerous  audience  col- 
lected. The  room  is  too  large ;  none  but  stentorian  lungs  or 
the  finest,  clearest  voices  can  be  heard.  However,  the  very 
size  of  the  apartment,  which  admits  two  thousand  people,  gave 
a  dignity  to  the  scene.  It  was  indeed  an  interesting  one.  The 
spectacle  of  the  representatives  of  twenty-five  millions  of  people, 
just  emerging  from  the  evils  of  two  hundred  years  of  arbitrary 
power,  and  rising  to  the  blessings  of  a  freer  constitution, 
assembled  with  open  doors  under  the  eye  of  the  public,  was 
framed  to  call  into  animated  feelings  every  latent  spark,  every 
emotion  of  a  liberal  bosom;  to  banish  whatever  ideas  might 
intrude  of  their  being  a  people  too  often  hostile  to  my  own 
country,  and  to  dwell  with  pleasure  on  the  glorious  idea  of 
happiness  to  a  great  nation. 
Abbe  Sieyes  Monsieur  I'Abbe  Sieyes  opened  the  debate.  He  is  one  of 
the  most  zealous  sticklers  for  the  popular  cause;  carries  his 
ideas  not  to  a  regulation  of  the  present  government,  which  he 
thinks  too  bad  to  be  regulated  at  all,  but  wishes  to  see  it  abso- 
lutely overturned,  —  being  in  fact  a  violent  republican:  this 
is  the  character  he  commonly  bears,  and  in  his  pamphlets  he 
seems  pretty  much  to  justify  such  an  idea.  He  speaks  ungrace- 
fully and  uneloquently,  but  logically,  —  or  rather  reads  so,  for 
he  read  his  speech,  which  was  prepared.  His  motion,  or  rather 
string  of  motions,  was  to  declare  themselves  the  representatives 
known  and  verified  of  the  French  nation,  admitting  the  right  of 
all  absent  deputies  [namely,  those  of  the  nobility  and  clergy] 
to  be  received  among  them  on  the  verification  of  their  powers. 
Mirabeau's  Monsieur  de  Mirabeau  spoke  without  notes  for  near  an  hour, 
speech  ^-^^  ^  warmth,  animation,  and  eloquence  that  entitles  him  to 

the  reputation  of  an  undoubted  orator.  He  opposed  the  words 
"known"  and  "verified,"  in  the  proposition  of  Abb^  Sieyes, 
with  great  force  of  reasoning,  and  proposed  in  lieu  that  they 
should  declare  themselves  simply  Representatives  dii  peuple 
Rran^oise  ;  that  no  veto  should  exist  against  their  resolves  in 
any  other  assembly;  that  all  [existing]  taxes  are  illegal,  but 
should  be  granted  during  the  present  sessions  of  the  states, 
and  no  longer ;  that  the  debt  of  the  king  should  become  the 
debt  of   the   nation,  and   be   secured   on   funds   accordingly. 


The  Freitch  Revolution  255 

Monsieur  de  Mirabeau  was  well   heard,  and   his  proposition 

much  applauded. 

In  regard  to  their  general  method  of  proceeding,  there  are  Disorderly 
two    circumstances   in    which    they    are   very   deficient.    The  "^^t^od  of 

1  11      •  11  1  •  r  •         ,        procedure 

spectators  m  the  galleries  are  allowed  to  mterfere  m  the  in  the 
debates  by  clapping  their  hands,  and  other  noisy  expressions  Assembly 
of  approbation  :  this  is  grossly  indecent ;  it  is  also  dangerous ; 
for  if  they  are  permitted  to  express  approbation,  they  are, 
by  parity  of  reason,  allowed  expressions  of  dissent,  and  they 
may  hiss  as  well  as  clap  ;  which  it  is  said  they  have  sometimes 
done  :  this  would  be  to  overrule  the  debate  and  influence  the 
deliberations. 

Another  circumstance  is  the  want  of  order  among  them- 
selves. More  than  once  to-day  there  were  an  hundred  members 
on  their  legs  at  a  time,  and  Monsieur  Bailly  absolutely  without 
power  to  keep  order. 


Section  J^.    First  Reforms  of  the  N'ational  Assembly 
{July  to  October,  lySg) 


The  abolition  of  the  feudal  system,  which  took  place 
during  the  famous  night  session  of  August  4-5,  1789, 
was  caused  by  the  reading  of  a  report  on  the  misery  and 
disorder  which  prevailed  in  the  provinces.  The  report 
declares  that  "letters  from  all  the  provinces  indicate 
that  property  of  all  kinds  is  a  prey  to  the  most  criminal 
violence  ;  on  all  sides  chateaux  are  being  burned,  con- 
vents destroyed,  and  farms  abandoned  to  pillage.  The 
taxes,  the  feudal  dues, — all  are  extinct;  the  laws  are 
without  force,  and  the  magistrates  without  authority." 
With  the  hope  of  pacifying  and  encouraging  the  people, 
the  Assembly,  in  a  fervor  of  enthusiasm  and  excitement, 
straightway  abolished  many  of  the  ancient  abuses.  The 
document  here  given  is  the  revised  decree,  completed 
a  week  later. 


^ 


256  Readings  in  Modern  European  History 


118.  Decree 
abolishing 
the  feudal 
system 


Extinction  of 
all  hunting 
rights 


Manorial 

courts 

suppressed 


Tithes 
abolished 


Article  I.  The  National  Assembly  hereby  completely  abol- 
ishes the  feudal  system.  It  decrees  that,  among  the  existing 
rights  and  dues,  both  feudal  and  ceiisiiel^  all  those  originating 
in  or  representing  real  or  personal  serfdom  shall  be  abolished 
without  indemnification.  All  other  dues  are  declared  redeem- 
able, the  terms  and  mode  of  redemption  to  be  fixed  by  the 
National  Assembly.  Those  of  the  said  dues  which  are  not 
extinguished  by  this  decree  shall  continue  to  be  collected 
until  indemnification  shall  take  place. 

II.  The  exclusive  right  to  maintain  pigeon  houses  and  dove- 
cotes is  abolished.  The  pigeons  shall  be  confined  during  the 
seasons  fixed  by  the  community.  During  such  periods  they 
shall  be  looked  upon  as  game,  and  every  one  shall  have  the 
right  to  kill  them  upon  his  own  land. 

III.  The  exclusive  right  to  hunt  and  to  maintain  uninclosed 
warrens  is  likewise  abolished,  and  every  landowner  shall  have 
the  right  to  kill,  or  to  have  destroyed 'on  his  o^\Tl  land,  all  kinds 
of  game,  observing,  however,  such  police  regulations  as  may  be 
established  with  a  view  to  the  safety  of  the  public. 

All  hunting  capitaineries^  including  the  royal  forests,  and 
all  hunting  rights  under  w^hatever  denomination,  are  likewise 
abolished.  Provision  shall  be  made,  however,  in  a  manner 
compatible  with  the  regard  due  to  property  and  liberty,  for 
maintaining  the  personal  pleasures  of  the  king. 

The  president  of  the  Assembly  shall  be  commissioned  to  ask 
of  the  king  the  recall  of  those  sent  to  the  galleys  or  exiled, 
simply  for  violations  of  the  hunting  regulations,  as  well  as  for 
the  release  of  those  at  present  imprisoned  for  offenses  of  this 
kind,  and  the  dismissal  of  such  cases  as  are  now  pending. 

IV.  All  manorial  courts  are  hereby  suppressed  without 
indemnification.  But  the  magistrates  of  these  courts  shall 
continue  to  perform  their  functions  until  such  time  as  the 
National  Assembly  shall  provide  for  the  establishment  of  a 
new  judicial  system. 

V.  Tithes  of  every  description,  as  well  as  the  dues  which 
have  been  substituted  for  them,  under  whatever  denomination 

1  This  refers  to  the  cens^  a  perpetual  due  similar  to  the  payments 
made  by  English  copyholders.  ^  See  above,  p.  140. 


The  French  Revolution  257 

they  are  knowoi  or  collected  (even  when  compounded  for),  pos- 
sessed by  secular  or  regular  congregations,  by  holders  of  bene- 
fices, members  of  corporations  (including  the  Order  of  Malta  and 
other  religious  and  military  orders),  as  well  as  those  devoted  to 
the  maintenance  of  churches,  those  impropriated  to  lay  persons, 
and  those  substituted  for  the  portion  cojigme,^  are  abolished, 
on  condition,  however,  that  some  other  method  be  devised  to 
provide  for  the  expenses  of  divine  worship,  the  support  of  the 
officiating  clergy,  for  the  assistance  of  the  poor,  for  repairs  and 
rebuilding  of  churches  and  parsonages,  and  for  the  maintenance 
of  all  institutions,  seminaries,  schools,  academies,  asylums,  and 
organizations  to  which  the  present  funds  are  devoted.  Until 
such  provision  shall  be  made  and  the  former  possessors  shall 
enter  upon  the  enjoyment  of  an  income  on  the  new  system,  the 
National  Assembly  decrees  that  the  said  tithes  shall  continue 
to  be  collected  according  to  law  and  in  the  customary  manner. 
Other  tithes,  of  whatever  nature  they  may  be,  shall  be  re- 
deemable in  such  manner  as  the  Assembly  shall  determine. 
TJBtil  this  matter  is  adjusted,  the  National  Assembly  decrees 
that  these,  too,  shall  continue  to  be  collected. 

VI.  All  perpetual  ground  rents,  payable  either  in  money  or 
in  kind,  of  whatever  nature  they  may  be,  whatever  their  origin 
and  to  whomsoever  they  may  be  due,  .  .  .  shall  be  redeem- 
able at  a  rate  fixed  by  the  Assembly.  No  due  shall  in  the  future 
be  created  which  is  not  redeemable. 

VII.  The   sale   of  judicial   and   municipal  offices  shall   be  Sale  of  offices 
abolished  forthwith.   Justice  shall  be  dispensed  gratis.    Never-  discontinued 
theless  the  magistrates  at  present  holding  such  offices  shall 
continue  to  exercise  their  functions  and  to  receive  their  emol- 
uments until  the  Assembly  shall  have  made  provision  for  in- 
demnifying them. 

VIII.  The  fees  of  the  country  priests  are  abolished,  and  shall 
be  discontinued  so  soon  as  provision  shall  be  made  for  increas- 
ing the  minimum  salary  \_portion  congrtte\  of  the  parish  priests 
and  the  payment  to  the  curates.  A  regulation  shall  be  drawn 
up  to  determine  the  status  of  the  priests  in  the  towns. 

1  This  expression  refers  to  the  minimum  remuneration  fixed  for  the 
priests. 


258  Readings  in  Modern  European  History 


Exemptions 
from  taxa- 
tion abol- 
ished 


All  local 
differences 
in  the  law 
abolished 


V 


Papal 

powers 

reduced 


Pluralities 


Pensions 


IX.  Pecuniary  privileges,  personal  or  real,  in  the  payment 
of  taxes  are  abolished  forever.  Taxes  shall  be  collected  from 
all  the  citizens,  and  from  all  property,  in  the  same  manner  and 
in  the  same  form.  Plans  shall  be  considered  by  which  the  taxes 
shall  be. paid  proportionally  by  all,  even  for  the  last  six  months 
of  the  current  year. 

X.  Inasmuch  as  a  national  constitution  and  public  liberty 
are  of  more  advantage  to  the  provinces  than  the  privileges 
which  some  of  these  enjoy,  and  inasmuch  as  the  surrender  of 
such  privileges  is  essential  to  the  intimate  union  of  all  parts  of 
the  realm,  it  is  decreed  that  all  the  peculiar  privileges,  pecun- 
iary or  otherwise,  of  the  provinces,  principalities,  districts,  can- 
tons, cities,  and  communes  are  once  for  all  abolished  and  are 
absorbed  into  the  law  common  to  all  Frenchmen. 

XL  All  citizens,  without  distinction  of  birth,  are  eligible  to 
any  office  or  dignity,  whether  ecclesiastical,  civil,  or  military ; 
and  no  profession  shall  imply  any  derogation. 

XII.  Hereafter  no  remittances  shall  be  made  for  annates  or 
for  any  other  purpose  to  the  court  of  Rome,  the  vice  legation 
at  Avignon,  or  to  the  nunciature  at  Lucerne.  The  clergy  of  the 
diocese  shall  apply  to  their  bishops  in  regard  to  the  filling  of 
benefices  and  dispensations,  the  which  shall  be  granted  gratis 
without  regard  to  reservations,  expectancies,  and  papal  months, 
all  the  churches  of  France  enjoying  the  same  freedom. 

XIII.  [This  article  abolishes  various  ecclesiastical  dues.] 

XIV.  Pluralities  shall  not  be  permitted  hereafter  in  cases 
where  the  revenue  from  the  benefice  or  benefices  held  shall 
exceed  the  sum  of  three  thousand  livres.  Nor  shall  any  indi- 
vidual be  allowed  to  enjoy  several  pensions  from  benefices, 
or  a  pension  and  a  benefice,  if  the  revenue  which  he  already 
enjoys  from  such  sources  exceeds  the  same  sum  of  three 
thousand  livres. 

XV.  The  National  Assembly  shall  consider,  in  conjunction 
with  the  king,  the  report  which  is  to  be  submitted  to  it  relating 
to  pensions,  favors,  and  salaries,  with  a  view  to  suppressing  all 
such  as  are  not  deserved,  and  reducing  those  which  shall  prove 
excessive ;  and  the  amount  shall  be  fixed  which  the  king  may 
in  the  future  disburse  for  this  purpose. 


The  French  Revolutio7t  259 

XVI.  The  National  Assembly  decrees  that  a  medal  shall 
be  struck  in  memory  of  the  recent  grave  and  important  delib- 
erations for  the  welfare  of  France,  and  that  a  Te  Deum  shall 
be  chanted  in  gratitude  in  all  the  parishes  and  the  churches 
of  France. 

XVII.  The  National  Assembly  solemnly  proclaims  the  king, 
Louis  XVI,  the  Restorer  of  French  Liberty. 

XVIII.  The  National  Assembly  shall  present  itself  in  a  body 
before  the  king,  in  order  to  submit  to  him  the  decrees  which 
have  just  been  passed,  to  tender  to  him  the  tokens  of  its  most 
respectful  gratitude,  and  to  pray  him  to  permit  the  Te  Deum 
to  be  chanted  in  his  chapel,  and  to  be  present  himself  at  this 
service. 

XIX.  The  National  Assembly  shall  consider,  immediately 
after  the  constitution,  the  drawing  up  of  the  laws  necessary 
for  the  development  of  the  principles  which  it  has  laid  down 
in  the  present  decree.  The  latter  shall  be  transmitted  by  the 
deputies  without  delay  to  all  the  provinces,  together  with  the 
decree  of  the  loth  of  this  month,  in  order  that  it  may  be 
printed,  published,  read  from  the  parish  pulpits,  and  posted 
up  wherever  it  shall  be  deemed  necessary. 

A  declaration  of  the  rights  of  man,  which  had  been 
demanded  by  many  of  the  cahiers,  was  the  part  of  the 
new  constitution  which  the  Assembly  decided  (August  4) 
should  be  first  drawn  up.  The  members  recognized  that 
they  were  imitating  an  American  precedent  in  doing 
this.  Our  first  state  constitutions,  several  of  which  were 
preceded  by  elaborate  bills  of  rights,  had  very  early  been 
translated  into  French. 

Almost  every  one  of  the  articles  in  the  Declaration 
of  the  Rights  of  Man  recalls  some  abuse  of  the  Ancien 
Regime.  This  document  has,  moreover,  exercised  a  great 
influence  upon  Europe,  and  was  imitated  in  many  of  the 
constitutions  drawn  up  during  the  nineteenth  century 
in  the  several  European  states. 


26o  Readings  tJi  Modern  Europeaji  History 

119.  Decla-  The  representatives  of  the  French  people,  organized  as  a 
th*^°°  ht  National  Assembly,  believing  that  the  ignorance,  neglect,  or 
of  man  contempt  of  the  rights  of  man  are  the  sole  causes  of  public 
calamities  and  of  the  corruption  of  governments,  have  deter- 
mined to  set  forth  in  a  solemn  declaration  the  natural,  inalien- 
able, and  sacred  rights  of  man,  in  order  that  this  declaration, 
being  constantly  before  all  the  members  of  the  social  body, 
shall  remind  them  continually  of  their  rights  and  duties ;  in 
order  that  the  acts  of  the  legislative  power,  as  well  as  those  of 
the  executive  power,  may  be  compared  at  any  moment  with  the 
objects  and  purposes  of  all  political  institutions  and  may  thus 
be  more  respected ;  and,  lastly,  in  order  that  the  grievances 
of  the  citizens,  based  hereafter  upon  simple  and  incontestable 
principles,  shall  tend  to  the  maintenance  of  the  constitution 
and  redound  to  the  happiness  of  all.  Therefore  the  National 
Assembly  recognizes  and  proclaims,  in  the  presence  and  under 
the  auspices  of  the  Supreme  Being,  the  following  rights  of  man 
and  of  the  citizen  : 

Article  i.  Men  are  born  and  remain  free  and  equal  in 
rights.  Social  distinctions  may  be  founded  only  upon  the 
general  good. 

2.  The  aim  of  all  political  association  is  the  preservation  of 
the  natural  and  imprescriptible  rights  of  man.  These  rights 
are  liberty,  property,  security,  and  resistance  to  oppression. 

3.  The  principle  of  all  sovereignty  resides  essentially  in  the 
nation.  No  body  nor  individual  may  exercise  any  authority 
which  does  not  proceed  directly  from  the  nation. 

4.  Liberty  consists  in  the  freedom  to  do  everything  which 
injures  no  one  else ;  hence  the  exercise  of  the  natural  rights 
of  each  man  has  no  limits  except  those  which  assure  to  the 
other  members  of  the  society  the  enjoyment  of  the  same  rights. 
These  limits  can  only  be  determined  by  law. 

5.  Law  can  only  prohibit  such  actions  as  are  hurtful  to 
society.  Nothing  may  be  prevented  which  is  not  forbidden  by 
law,  and  no  one  may  be  forced  to  do  anything  not  provided 
for  by  law. 

6.  Law  is  the  expression  of  the  general  will.  Every  citizen  has 
a  right  to  participate  personally,  or  through  his  representative. 


The  French  Revohition  261 

in  its  formation.  It  must  be  the  same  for  all,  whether  it  pro- 
tects or  punishes.  All  citizens,  being  equal  in  the  eyes  of  the 
law,  are  equally  eligible  to  all  dignities  and  to  all  public  posi- 
tions and  occupations,  according  to  their  abilities,  and  without 
distinction  except  that  of  their  virtues  and  talents. 

7.  No  person  shall  be  accused,  arrested,  or  imprisoned  ex- 
cept in  the  cases  and  according  to  the  forms  prescribed  by  law. 
Any  one  soliciting,  transmitting,  executing,  or  causing  to  be 
executed,  any  arbitrary  order,  shall  be  punished.  But  any  citi- 
zen summoned  or  arrested  in  virtue  of  the  law  shall  submit 
without  delay,  as  resistance  constitutes  an  offense. 

8.  The  law  shall  provide  for  such  punishments  only  as  are 
strictly  and  obviously  necessary,  and  no  one  shall  suffer  punish- 
ment except  it  be  legally  inflicted  in  virtue  of  a  law  passed 
and  promulgated  before  the  commission  of  the  offense. 

9.  As  all  persons  are  held  innocent  until  they  shall  have 
been  declared  guilty,  if  arrest  shall  be  deemed  indispensable, 
all  harshness  not  essential  to  the  securing  of  the  prisoner's 
person  shall  be  severely  repressed  by  law. 

10.  No  one  shall  be  disquieted  on  account  of  his  opinions, 
including  his  religious  views,  provided  their  manifestation  does 
not  disturb  the  public  order  established  by  law. 

11.  The  free  communication  of  ideas  and  opinions  is  one 
of  the  most  precious  of  the  rights  of  man.  Every  citizen  may, 
accordingly,  speak,  write,  and  print  with  freedom,  but  shall  be 
responsible  for  such  abuses  of  this  freedom  as  shall  be  defined 
by  law. 

12.  The  security  of  the  rights  of  man  and  of  the  citizen 
requires  public  military  forces.  These  forces  are,  therefore, 
established  for  the  good  of  all  and  not  for  the  personal  advan- 
tage of  those  to  whom  they  shall  be  intrusted. 

13.  A  common  contribution  is  essential  for  the  maintenance 
of  the  public  forces  and  for  the  cost  of  administration.  This 
should  be  equitably  distributed  among  all  the  citizens  in  pro- 
portion to  their  means. 

14.  All  the  citizens  have  a  right  to  decide,  either  personally 
or  by  their  representatives,  as  to  the  necessity  of  the  public 
contribution  ;  to  grant  this  freely ;   to  know  to  what  uses  it  is 


262  Readings  in  Modern  Eiiropean  History 

put ;  and  to  fix  the  proportion,  the  mode  of  assessment  and 
of  collection  and  the  duration  of  the  taxes. 

15.  Society  has  the  right  to  require  of  every  public  agent 
an  account  of  his  administration. 

16.  A  society  in  which  the  observance  of  the  law  is  not 
assured,  nor  the  separation  of  powers  defined,  has  no  consti- 
tution at  all. 

17.  Since  property  is  an  inviolable  and  sacred  right,  no  one 
shall  be  deprived  thereof  except  where  public  necessity,  legally 
determined,  shall  clearly  demand  it,  and  then  only  on  con- 
dition that  the  owner  shall  have  been  previously  and  equitably 
indemnified. 

Section  j6.    The  National  Assembly  at  Pay  is 
{October^  jySg,  to  September^  lygi) 

Mirabeau  is  generally  recognized  as  the  ablest  states- 
man in  France  during  the  opening  of  the  Revolution. 
After  the  mob  had  carried  off  the  king  to  Paris  during 
the  "October  Days,"  Mirabeau  was,  in  spite  of  the 
king's  and  queen's  abhorrence  and  distrust  of  him, 
brought  into  relations  with  the  court  and  permitted  to 
give  advice  which,  however,  was  never  taken.  His  first 
communication  to  the  king  (October  15)  furnishes  a 
wonderful  picture  of  the  situation  in  France  and  the 
dangers  to  which  the  king  was  exposed  in  Paris.  There 
is  scarcely  a  feature  of  the  approaching  reign  of  terror 
which  escapes  Mirabeau's  prophetic  insight.  The  king, 
shortly  after  Mirabeau's  death  (in  April,  1791),  tried  to 
escape  from  France  in  precisely  the  manner  against 
which  the  great  statesman  had  most  urgently  warned 
him  and  with  precisely  the  results  which  Mirabeau 
forecast. 

The  king  could  not  refuse  to  come  to  Paris,  and  whether 
the  National  Assembly  could  have  refused  to  follow  him  or 


The  Frejich  Revolution  263 

not,  it  had  not,  in  any  case,  the  power  to  detain  him.    Is  the  120.  Mira- 
king  free  in  Paris  ?    He  is,  in  the  sense  that  no  foreign  will  ^^^^'^  ^^" 
has  taken  the  place  of  his  own,  but  he  is  certainly  not  at  king  in  Octo- 
liberty  to  leave  Paris.    He  may  not  select  those  who  guard  his  ^^r,  1789 
person ;   he  cannot  even  exercise  any  direct  control  over  the  ^  ^*^^<^*s) 
militia  to  whom  his  safety  is  confided.    The  National  Assembly 
is  free  in  Paris  so  far  as  its  deliberations  are  concerned,  but  it 
could  not  adjourn  to  another  town  in  the  kingdom,  nor  can  it 
guarantee  to  the  delegate  of  the  nation^  more  freedom  than 
he  already  has. 

Will  the  king  enjoy  in  Paris  entire  personal  security  even  ?  Danger  of 
Placed   as   he   is,   the   least   mischance  may  compromise   his  disorder  in 
safety  !    It  is  threatened  by  external  movements,  commotions 
within,  party  divisions,  the  errors  of  enthusiasm  and  of  impa- 
tience, and,  above  all,  by  the  violent  collision  of  the  capital 
with  the  provinces. 

Although  Paris  is  powerful,  it  contains  many  causes  for 
disturbance.  Its  inhabitants,  when  excited,  are  irresistible. 
Winter  is  approaching  and  food  may  be  w^anting.  Bankruptcy 
may  be  declared.  What  will  Paris  be  three  months  hence? 
Assuredly  a  poorhouse,  perhaps  a  theater  of  horrors.  Is  it  to 
such  a  place  that  the  head  of  the  nation  should  intrust  his 
existence  and  our  only  hope?  Necker's 

The  ministers  are  without  resources.  Only  one  of  them  incapacity 
enjoys  any  popularity,  and  he  has  always  been  supported 
rather  by  certain  enthusiastic  admirers  than  by  a  party.  But 
his  resources  are  well  known,  and  he  has  just  shown  himself 
in  his  true  light.  His  empty  brain  has  never  contemplated 
more  than  to  prop  up  here  and  there  an  edifice  which  is  giv- 
ing away  at  every  point.  He  is  anxious  to  prolong  the  death 
agony  until  the  moment  he  has  chosen  for  his  political  retire- 
ment, when,  as  in  1781,  he  plans  to  leave  an  alleged  balance 
between  the  receipts  and  expenditures,  and  some  millions  in 
the  royal  treasury.  What  will  become  of  the  nation  after  this 
useless  attempt,  which  renders  bankruptcy  inevitable?  We 
are  only  weary  and  discouraged  as  yet ;  it  is  the  moment  of 
despair  which  is  to  be  feared.  .  .  . 
1  The  king. 


264  Readmgs  in  Modern  European  History 


Assembly 


Public  strength  lies  only  in  public  opinion  and  in  the 
revenues  of  the  State.  But  every  bond  of  public  opinion  is 
severed.  Only  the  direct  taxes  are  paid  at  all,  and  these  only 
partially,  although  the  half  of  our  taxes  are  indirect.  Several 
years  will  be  required  to  replace  what  six  months  have  just 
destroyed,  and  the  impatience  of  the  people,  which  is  increased 
by  their  misery,  is  apparent  on  every  hand. 
General  loss  A  Still  more  fatal  emergency  is  to  be  anticipated.  The 
of  respect  for  National  Assembly,  which  is  so  badly  constituted  in  principle, 

the  National  ,  ./',.  ,  ,    ^  .  ,   ^      .        ,^  , 

composed  as  it  is  of  discordant  factions  laboriously  brought 
together,  can  see  that  each  day  the  confidence  in  its  work  is 
diminishing.   .  .   . 

The  respect  which  an  exalted  title  and  a  great  revolution 
seen  from  afar  inspires,  as  well  as  hope,  so  essential  to  the 
people,  still  sustains  it.  But  each  day  this  great  cause  is 
deserted  by  a  portion  of  those  who  make  public  opinion, 
although  it  demands  the  closest  cooperation  of  every  faction 
and  party  in  the  realm.  The  people  are,  moreover,  only 
informed  of  the  almost  inevitable  mistakes  of  a  legislative 
body  which  is  too  numerous,  whose  footing  is  insecure,  and 
which  has  gone  through  no  apprenticeship  :  no  emphasis  is 
laid  upon  the  ease  with  which  such  mistakes  could  be  corrected 
by  the  next  legislature.  The  only  way  to  save  the  State  and 
the  nascent  constitution  is  to  put  the  king  in  a  position  which 
will  allow  him,  without  delay,  to  unite  with  his  people. 

Paris  has  long  swallowed  up  the  taxes  of  the  kingdom. 
Paris  is  the  seat  of  the  financial  regime  which  the  provinces 
loathe.  Paris  has  created  the  debt.  Paris,  by  its  miserable 
stock  gambling,  has  destroyed  public  credit,  and  has  compro- 
mised the  honor  of  the  nation.  Must  the  National  Assembly, 
too,  regard  this  city  only,  and  sacrifice  the  whole  kingdom  for 
it?  Several  provinces  fear  that  the  capital  will  dominate  the 
Assembly  and  direct  the  course  of  its  work. 

What,  then,  is  to  be  done?  Is  the  king  free?  His  freedom 
is  not  complete,  nor  is  it  recognized.  Is  the  king  safe?  I  do 
not  think  so.  Can  even  Paris  save  him  alone?  No;  Paris  is 
lost  if  she  is  not  brought  to  order  and  forced  to  moderation. 
Will  the   National  Assembly  finish  its  session  without  being 


King's  criti- 
cal position 
in  Paris 


The  French  Revolution  265 

hara.ssed  by  the  disturbances  which  a  thousand  circumstances 
lead  us  to  anticipate?  He  would  be  bold,  certainly,  who 
should  guarantee  this  ! 

Should  no  successful  effort  be  made  to  give  another  direc- 
tion to  public  opinion,  to  enlighten  the  people  as  to  their  true 
interests,  to  prepare,  by  instructions  given  to  constituents,  the 
spirit  of  the  new  legislature,  will  the  State  recover  its  tran- 
quillity, the  army  its  strength,  the  executive  power  its  influence, 
and  the  monarch  his  real  rights,  whose  exercise  is  essential  to 
public  liberty?  Or  wall  the  monarchy  be  shaken  to  its  founda- 
tion and  very  probably  dismembered,  —  that  is  to  say,  dissolved  ? 
It  is  easy  to  foresee  what  is  to  be  apprehended  by  what  has 
already  happened.  Some  measures  must  obviously  be  taken, 
as  all  the  facts  clearly  indicate. 

Several  methods   present  themselves,  but   there  are  those  The  king 
which  would  entail  the  most  terrible  evils,  and  which  I  only  ^^^^^^  °"^ 

-^    no  account 

mention  to  deter  the  king  from  a  course  which  w^ould  mean  flee  to  the 
certain  destruction.  To  withdraw  to  Metz  —  or  upon  any  other  boundary 
frontier — would  be  to  declare  war  upon  the  nation  and  abdicate 
the  throne.  A  king,  who  is  the  only  safeguard  of  his  people, 
does  not  fly  before  his  people.  .  .  .  He  does  not  excite  all 
manner  of  suspicion  against  himself,  nor  does  he  place  himself 
in  a  position  where  he  can  only  reenter  his  possessions  with 
arms  in  his  hands,  or  be  reduced  to  supplicate  foreign  aid. 

Who  can  say  to  what  a  state  of  frenzy  the  French  nation 
might  be  aroused  if  it  saw  its  king  abandoning  it  in  order  to 
join  a  group  of  exiles,  and  become  one  of  them  himself,  or 
how  it  would  prepare  for  resistance  and  oppose  the  forces  he 
might  collect?  Even  I  should  denounce  the  monarch  after 
such  an  act. 

To  withdraw  into  the  interior  of  the  kingdom  and  call  to-  The  popular 
gether  the  entire  nobility  would  be  a  policy  no  less  hazardous,  ^j^g^jj'^j^bility 
Justly  or  not,  the  whole  nation,  which  in  its  ignorance  confuses 
nobility  and  aristocracy,  has  long  looked  upon  the  gentry  eft 
masse  as  their  implacable  enemies.  The  abolition  of  the  feudal 
system  was  the  expiation  of  ten  centuries  of  madness.  The 
disturbance  might  have  been  lessened,  but  now  it  is  too  late, 
and  the  decree  is  irrevocable.    To  join  the  nobility  would  be 


266  Readings  in  Modern  Europe a7i  History 

worse  than  for  the  king  to  throw  himself  upon  a  foreign  and 
hostile  army.  He  has  to  choose  between  a  great  nation  and  a 
few  individuals,  between  peace  and  civil  war  carried  on  upon 
exceedingly  unequal  terms.  .  .  . 

It  is  certain,  in  short,  that  a  great  revolution  is  necessary 
to  save  the  kingdom ;  that  the  nation  has  rights,  that  it  is  on 
the  way  to  recover  them  all,  and  that  it  is  not  sufficient  simply 
to  reestablish  them,  but  they  must  be  consolidated;  that  a 
national  convention  can  alone  regenerate  France ;  that  the 
Assembly  has  already  made  several  laws  which  it  is  indispensa- 
ble to  adopt ;  and  that  there  is  no  safety  for  the  king  and  for 
the  State  except  in  the  closest  alliance  between  the  monarch 
and  his  people. 

All  the  methods  which  I  have  mentioned  having  been  re- 
jected, I  will  make  the  following  observations  upon  a  final  plan 
which  is  certainly  not  without  peril.  .  .  . 
The  king  Having  taken  certain  precautions,  the  king  may  leave  his 

should  retire    palace  in  Open  day  and  retire  to  Rouen.     He  should  select 

to  Rouen  and     ...  .  ...  r     i       i  • 

summon  the     that  City  or  its  environs,  because  it  is  the  center  ot  the  kmg- 
Assembly        dom,  because  .  .  .  such  a  choice  proclaims  that  there  is  no 
intention  of  flight,  and  that  the  only  object  is  to  conciliate 
the  provinces.   .   .  . 

Before  the  king's  departure  a  proclamation  should  be  pre- 
pared, addressed  to  all  the  provinces,  in  which  the  king  should 
say,  among  other  things,  that  he  is  about  to  throw  himself  into 
the  arms  of  his  people ;  that  violence  has  been  done  him  at 
Versailles ;  that  he  was  in  a  measure  watched  at  Paris,  and 
was  not  free  to  come  and  go,  as  every  citizen  is  and  ought  to  be. 
For  the  truth  of  these  statements  proofs  should  be  furnished. 
The  king  should  say,  moreover,  that  he  recognizes  that  this 
situation  serves  as  an  excuse  to  the  ill  disposed  not  to  obey 
the  decrees  of  the  National  Assembly  and  the  sanction  given 
by  him  to  these  decrees,  all  of  which  could  easily  compromise 
a  revolution  in  which  he  is  as  much  interested  as  the  most 
ardent  friends  of  liberty  ;  that  he  hopes  to  be  inseparable  from 
his  people,  and  that  the  selection  which  he  has  made  of  Rouen 
proves  this  beyond  controversy  ;  that  he  is  the  first  king  of 
his  race  who  has  formed  the  purpose  of  investing  the  nation 


to  him 


The  French  Revolution  267 

with  all  its  rights,  and  that  he  has  persisted  in  this  design  in 
spite  of  his  ministers  and  the  counsels  by  which  princes  are 
corrupted  ;  that  he  has  adopted  without  reserve  such  and  such 
decrees  of  the  National  Assembly ;  that  he  renews  his  sanc- 
tion and  acceptance,  and  that  his  sentiments  in  this  matter 
are  unchangeable. 

The  proclamation  should  announce  that  the  king  is  about 
to  call  the  National  Assembly  to  him  in  order  that  it  may 
continue  its  work,  but  that  he  will  soon  summon  a  new  con- 
vention to  judge,  confirm,  modify,  and  ratify  the  work  of  the 
first  Assembly. 

The  king  should  state  that  he  is  ready  to  submit  to  the  great- 
est personal  sacrifices,  since  there  are  to  be  no  more  promises 
of  economy  which  are  never  carried  out ;  that  he  will  live  like 
a  private  individual ;  that  a  million  will  suffice  him  for  his  per- 
sonal expenses  and  those  incurred  as  head  of  a  family;  that 
he  asks  no  more,  and  requires  but  a  single  table  for  himself 
and  his  family  ;  that  all  the  luxury  of  the  throne  should  consist 
in  the  perfecting  of  the  civil  government  and  in  the  wise  lib- 
erality of  distinctly  national  outlays.  .   .   . 

The  king  should  declare  that,  although  he  has  resolved 
upon  all  possible  personal  sacrifice,  he  by  no  means  holds  that 
the  same  retrenchment  can  be  applied  to  all  the  payments 
which  have,  for  a  long  time,  been  granted  to  a  host  of  citi- 
zens who  have  at  present  no  other  means  of  support,  and  he 
requests  the  nation  to  consider  that  public  peace  is  not  to  be 
successfully  reestablished  by  ruining  and  driving  to  despair 
so  many  thousand  persons ;  that  for  the  rest,  he  takes  his 
people  to  witness  as  to  his  personal  conduct  in  the  past; 
that  he  will  not  subdue  them  by  arms,  but  by  his  love ;  that 
he  confides  his  honor  and  safety  to  French  loyalty  ;  that  he 
only  wishes  the  happiness  of  the  citizens,  and  that  his  own 
pleasure  is  of  no  further  importance. 

This  proclamation  of  a  good  king,  this  peace  manifesto,  firm 
in  its  spirit  but  well  calculated  to  win  the  confidence  of  the 
people,  ought  to  be  forwarded  by  extraordinary  couriers  to  all 
the  provinces,  and  all  those  in  command  should  be  notified  to 
be  on  their  guard.  ... 


268  Readings  in  Moderji  European  History 

On  February  ii,  1790,  the  National  Assembly  issued 
a  declaration  to  the  French  nation  in  which  it  summed 
up  its  achievements  during  the  previous  six  months  of 
its  existence. 

121.  The  The   National   Assembly,  as   it    progresses   in    its  work,  is 

National        receiving  upon  every  hand  the  felicitations  of  the  provinces, 

reviews  its    cities,  and  villages,  testimonials  of  the  public  satisfaction  and 

achieve-        expressions  of  grateful  appreciation ;   but   murmurs  reach  it 

™^°th  ^"^'    ^^  ^^^^^'  iiom.  those  who  are  affected  or  injured  by  the  blows 

previous  six  aimed  at  so  many  abuses  and  prejudices.    While  occupied  with 

months         the  welfare  of  all,  the  Assembly  is  solicitous  in  regard  to  indi- 

1700)^"^^'    ^'^^^^^  i^^S'    -^t  ^^^  forgive  prejudice,  bitterness,  and  injustice, 

but  it  feels  it  to  be  one  of  its  duties  to  warn  you  against  the 

influence  of  calumny,  and  to  quiet  the  empty  terrors  which 

some  are  vainly  trying  to  arouse  in  you.    To  what  have  they 

not  resorted  in  order  to  mislead  and  discourage  you?    They 

pretend  to  be  unaware  of  the  good  that  the  National  Assembly 

has  accomplished;   this  we  propose  to  recall   to  your  mind. 

Objections   have   been   raised   against  what   has  been  done ; 

these  we  propose  to  meet.     Doubts  and   anxiety  have  been 

disseminated  as  to  what  we  propose  to  do  in  the  future ;  this 

we  will  explain  to  you. 

What  has  the  Assembly  accomplished?  In  the  midst  of 
storms  it  has,  with  a  firm  hand,  traced  the  principles  of  a 
constitution  which  will  assure  your  liberty  forever.  The  rights 
of  man  had  been  misconceived  and  insulted  for  centuries; 
they  have  been  reestablished  for  all  humanity  in  that  dec- 
laration, which  shall  serve  as  an  everlasting  war  cry  against 
oppressors  and  as  a  law  for  the  legislators  themselves.  The 
nation  had  lost  the  right  to  decree  both  the  laws  and  the 
taxes;  this  right  has  been  restored  to  it,  while  at  the  same 
time  the  true  principles  of  monarchy  have  been  solemnly 
established,  as  well  as  the  inviolability  of  the  august  head  of 
the  nation  and  the  heredity  of  the  throne  in  a  family  so  dear 
to  all  Frenchmen. 

Formerly  you  had  only  the  Estates  General ;  now  you  have 
a  National  Assembly  of  which  you  can  never  be  again  deprived. 


The  French  RevoltUio7i  269 

In  the  Estates  General  the  several  orders,  which  were  necessa-  The  Estates 
rily  at  odds  and  under  the  domination  of  ancient  pretensions,  General  con- 
dictated  the  decrees  and  could  check  the  free  action  of  the  ^  National 
national  will.    These  orders  no  longer  exist;  all  have  disap-  Assembly 
peared  before  the  honorable  title  of  citizoi.    All  being  citizens 
alike,  you  demanded  citizen-defenders  and,  at  the  first  sum- 
mons, the  National  Guard   arose,  which,  called   together  by 
patriotism  and  commanded  by  honor,  has  everywhere  main- 
tained or  established  order  and  watches  with  untiring  zeal  over 
the  safety  of  each  for  the  benefit  of  all. 

Privileges  without  number,  irreconcilably  at  enmity  with  Abolition  of 
every  good,  made  up  our  entire  public  law.  These  have  been  P"vileges 
destroyed,  and,  at  the  word  of  this  Assembly,  the  provinces 
which  were  the  most  jealous  of  their  own  privileges  applauded 
their  disappearance,  feeling  that  they  gained  rather  than  lost 
thereby.  A  vexatious  feudal  system,  powerful  even  in  its  ruin, 
covered  the  whole  of  France ;  it  has  now  disappeared,  never 
to  return.  In  the  provinces  you  were  subject  to  a  harassing 
administration ;  from  this  you  have  been  freed.  Arbitrary 
commands  threatened  the  liberty  of  the  citizens ;  they  have 
been  done  away  with.  You  desired  a  complete  organization 
of  the  municipalities ;  this  you  have  just  received,  and'  the 
creation  of  these  bodies,  chosen  by  your  votes,  offers,  at  this 
moment,  a  most  imposing  spectacle.  At  the  same  time,  the 
National  Assembly  has  finished  the  task  of  a  new  division  of 
the  kingdom,  which  alone  might  serve  to  remove  the  last  trace 
of  former  prejudices,  substitute  for  provincial  selfishness  the 
true  love  for  one's  country,  and  serve  as  the  basis  of  a  just 
system  of  representation.^  .  .  . 

This,  Frenchmen,  is  our  work,  or  rather  yours,  for  we  are  only 
your  organ,  and  you  have  enlightened,  encouraged,  and  sus- 
tained us  in  our  labors.  What  a  glorious  period  is  this  which 
we  at  last  enjoy !  How  honorable  the  heritage  which  you  may 
transmit  to  your  posterity  !  Raised  to  the  rank  of  citizens ; 
admissible  to  every  form  of  employment ;   enlightened  censors 

1  The  enumeration  of  a  few  further  reforms  is  here  omitted.  The 
Assembly  notes  the  abolition  of  the  sale  of  offices  and  the  partial 
extinction  of  the  salt  tax. 


270  Readings  in  Moder?i  European  History 

of  the  administration  when  it  is  not  actually  in  your  hands ; 
certain  that  all  will  be  done  by  you  and  for  you ;  equal  before 
the  law ;  free  to  act,  to  speak,  to  write ;  owing  no  account  to 
individuals  but  always  to  the  common  will;  — what  condition 
more  happy  !  Is  there  a  single  citizen  worthy  of  the  name 
who  would  dare  look  back,  who  would  rebuild  once  more  the 
ruins  which  surround  us,  in  order  again  to  contemplate  the 
former  structure? 
The  Assem-  Yet  what  has  not  been  said  and  done  to  weaken  the  natural 
bly  replies  to  impressions  which  such  advantages  should  produce  upon  you? 
tions  made  It  is  Urged  that  we  have  destroyed  everything ;  everything  must, 
against  it  then,  be  reconstructed.  But  what  is  there  which  need  be  so 
much  regretted?  If  we  would  know,  let  those  be  questioned 
in  regard  to  the  objects  of  reform  or  destruction  who  did  not 
profit  by  them  ;  let  even  men  of  good  faith  be  questioned  who 
did  profit  by  them.  But  let  us  leave  one  side  those  who,  in 
order  to  ennoble  the  demands  of  purely  personal  interests,  now 
choose  as  the  objects  of  their  commiseration  the  fate  of  those 
to  whom  they  were  formerly  quite  indifferent.  We  may  then 
judge  if  each  subject  of  reform  does  not  enjoy  the  approval  of 
all  of  those  whose  opinions  should  be  considered. 

Some  say  that  we  have  acted  too  precipitately,  as  many 
others  proclaim  that  we  have  been  too  deliberate.  Too  much 
precipitation  !  Does  not  every  one  know  that  only  by  attacking 
and  overthrowing  all  the  abuses  at  the  same  time  can  we  hope 
to  be  freed  from  them  without  danger  of  their  return  ;  that 
then,  and  then  only,  every  one  becomes  interested  in  the 
reestablishment  of  order ;  that  slow  and  partial  reforms  have 
always  resulted  in  no  reform  at  all,  and  that  an  abuse  preserved 
becomes  the  support,  and  before  long  the  means  of  restoring 
all  those  which  we  thought  to  have  destroyed? 

Our  meetings  are  said  to  be  disorderly  ;  what  of  that,  if  the 
decrees  which  proceed  from  them  are  wise?  We  are  indeed 
far  from  wishing  to  hold  up  for  your  admiration  the  details  of 
all  our  debates.  More  than  once  they  have  been  a  source  of 
annoyance  to  us,  but  at  the  same  time  we  have  felt  that  it  was 
very  unjust  to  take  advantage  of  this  disorder ;  and  indeed  this 
impetuosity  is  the  almost  inevitable  effect  of  the  first  conflict 


TJie  FrencJi  Revolution  271 

which  has  perhaps  ever  been  fought  by  every  right  principle 
against  every  form  of  error. 

We  are  accused  of  having  aspired  to  a  chimerical  perfection. 
A  curious  reproach  indeed,  which,  if  one  looks  at  it  closely, 
proves  to  be  only  an  ill-disguised  desire  for  the  perpetuation 
of  the  abuses.  The  National  Assembly  has  not  allowed  itself 
to  be  influenced  by  motives  of  servile  interest  or  pusillanimity. 
It  has  had  the  courage,  or  rather  the  sense,  to  believe  that 
useful  ideas,  essential  to  the  human  race,  were  not  destined 
simply  to  adorn  the  pages  of  a  book,  and  that  the  Supreme 
Being,  when  he  granted  the  attribute  of  perfectibility  to  man, 
did  not  forbid  him  to  apply  this  peculiar  appanage  of  his 
nature  to  the  social  organization,  which  has  become  the  most 
comprehensive  of  his  interests  and  almost  the  most  important 
of  his  needs. 

It  is  impossible,  some  say,  to  regenerate  an  old  and  corrupt 
nation.  Let  such  objectors  learn  that  there  is  nothing  corrupt 
but  those  who  wish  to  perpetuate  corrupting  abuses,  and  that 
a  nation  becomes  young  again  the  moment  it  resolves  to  be 
born  anew  in  liberty.  Behold  the  regeneration  !  How  the 
nation's  heart  already  beats  with  joy  and  hope,  and  how  pure, 
elevated,  and  patriotic  are  its  sentiments  !  With  what  enthusi- 
asm do  the  people  daily  solicit  the  honor  of  being  allowed  to 
take  the  oath  of  citizen  ! — but  why  consider  so  despicable  a 
reproach?  Shall  the  National  Assembly  be  reduced  to  excuse 
itself  for  not  having  rendered  the  French  people  desperate? 

But  we  have  done  nothing  for  the  people,  their  pretended 
friends  cry  on  all  sides.  Yet  it  is  the  people's  cause  which  is 
everywhere  triumphant.  Nothing  done  for  the  people  !  Does 
not  every  abuse  which  is  abolished  prepare  the  way  for,  and 
assure  to  them,  relief?  Is  there  an  abuse  which  does  not  weigh 
upon  the  people?  They  do  not  complain,  —  it  is  because  the 
excess  of  their  ills  has  stifled  complaint.  They  are  now  un- 
happy, —  say  better  that  they  are  still  unhappy,  —  but  not  for 
long ;  that  we  swear. 

We  have  destroyed  the  power  of  the  executive  —  no,  say 
rather  the  power  of  the  ministers,  which,  in  reality,  formerly 
destroyed  or  often  degraded  the  executive  power.    We  have 


2^2  Readmgs  in  Modern  European  History 

enlightened  the  executive  power  by  showing  it  its  true  rights ; 
we  have,  above  all,  ennobled  it  by  bringing  it  to  the  true  source 
of  its  power,  the  power  of  the  people.  The  executive  power 
is  now  without  force,  —  against  the  constitution  and  the  law, 
that  is  true,  but  in  support  of  them  it  will  be  more  powerful 
than  ever  before. 

The  people  are  aroused,  —  yes,  for  its  defense,  and  with 
reason.  But,  it  is  urged,  in  several  places  there  have  been 
unfortunate  occurrences.  Should  the  National  Assembly  be 
reproached  for  these?  Should  disasters  be  attributed  to  it 
which  it  mourns,  which  it  would  have  prevented  and  arrested 
by  the  force  of  its  decrees,  and  which  the  union,  hereafter  in- 
dissoluble, between  the  two  powers  and  the  irresistible  action 
of  all  the  national  forces  will  doubtless  check? 

We  have  exceeded  our  powers.  The  reply  is  simple.  We 
were  incontestably  sent  to  make  a  constitution ;  this  was  the 
wish  and  the  need  of  the  whole  of  France.  But  was  it  possible 
to  create  a  constitution  and  form  an  even  imperfect  body  of 
constitutional  decrees,  without  the  plenitude  of  power  which 
we  have  exercised  ?  We  will  say  more  :  without  the  National 
Assembly  France  was  lost ;  without  the  recognition  of  the  prin- 
ciple which  has  governed  all  our  decrees,  of  submitting  the 
decision  of  every  matter  to  a  majority  of  votes,  freely  cast, 
it  is  impossible  to  conceive,  we  \\\\\  not  say  a  constitution, 
but  even  the  prospect  of  destroying  permanently  the  least  of 
the  abuses. 

This  principle  embodies  an  eternal  truth  and  has  been  recog- 
nized throughout  France.  It  receives  recognition  in  a  thousand 
ways  in  the  numerous  ratifications  which  oppose  the  swarm  of 
libels  reproaching  us  for  exceeding  our  powers.  These  ad- 
dresses, felicitations,  compliments,  and  patriotic  resolutions, 
—  what  a  conclusive  confirmation  do  they  constitute  of  those 
powers  which  some  would  contest ! 

These,  Frenchmen,  are  the  reproaches  which  have  been 
directed  against  your  representatives  in  the  mass  of  culpable 
writings  in  which  a  tone  of  civic  grief  is  assumed.  But  their 
authors  flatter  themselves  in  vain  that  we  are  to  be  discour- 
aged.   Our  courage  is  redoubled ;  you  wdll  not  long  wait  for 


The  French  Revolution  273 

the  results.^  .  .  .  We  will  pursue  our  laborious  task,  devoting 
ourselves  to  the  great  work  of  drawing  up  the  constitution  — 
your  work  as  well  as  ours.  We  will  complete  it,  aided  by  the 
wisdom  of  all  France. 

The  reorganization  of  the  Church,  vi^hich  f  ollov^ed  upon  122.  The 
the  confiscation  of  its  vast  possessions,  is  an  excellent  tutionof 

illustration  of  the  spirit  of  the  National  Assembly.    The  the  clergy 

.  .        .  (July  12, 

demand   for  complete  uniformity  and   simplification  is  1790) 

especially  pronounced  in  the  reform  of  this  most  vener- 
able institution  of  France,  the  anomalies  and  intricacies 
of  which  v^ere  hallowed  not  only  by  age  but  by  religious 
reverence.  The  chief  articles  of  the  decree  are  given 
below,  and  indicate  how  completely  the  Assembly  de- 
sired to  bring  the  Church  under  rules  similar  to  those 
which  they  were  drawing  up  for  the  State. 

The  National  Assembly,  after  having  heard  the  report  of 
the  ecclesiastical  committee,  has  decreed  and  do  decree  the 
following  as  constitutional  articles  : 

Title  I 

Article  I.   Each  department  shall  form  a  single  diocese,  Newbishop- 
and  each  diocese  shall  have  the  same  extent  and  the  same  ^'"  *°  *^°^"" 

,.     .^  ^11  .  .  cide  with  the 

hmits  as  the  department.  departments 

II.  The  seat  of  the  bishoprics  of  the  eighty-three  depart- 
ments of  the  kingdom  shall  be  established  as  follows  :  that 
of  the  department  of  the  Lower  Seine  at  Rouen ;  that  of  the 
department  of  Calvados  at  Bayeux.^  .  .  . 

All  other  bishoprics  in  the  eighty-three  departments  of  the 
kingdom,  which  are  not  included  by  narne  in  the  present  article, 
are,  and  forever  shall  be,  abolished. 

1  The  reforms  which  the  Assembly  announces  for  the  future  are 
omitted  here.  The  chief  were  an  enlightened  system  of  taxes,  a  reor- 
ganization of  the  Church,  new  codes  of  the  criminal  and  civil  law,  and 
a  national  system  of  education. 

2  The  names  of  the  remaining  episcopal  sees  are  here  omitted. 


274  Readings  in  Modern  European  History 


The  jurisdic- 
tion of  no 
foreign 
bishops  to  be 
any  longer 
recognized 


New  parish 
divisions 


General 
abolition 
of  ancient 
ecclesiastical 
offices 


Election  of 
bishops  and 
priests  by 
the  regular 
voters 


The  kingdom  shall  be  divided  into  ten  metropolitan  districts, 
of  which  the  sees  shall  be  situated  at  Rouen,  Rheims,  Besangon, 
Rennes,  Paris,  Bourges,  Bordeaux,  Toulouse,  Aix,  and  Lyons. 
These  archbishoprics  shall  have  the  following  denominations : 
that  of  Rouen  shall  be  called  the  Archbishopric  of  the  Coast 
of  the  Channel.-^  .  .  . 

IV.  No  church  or  parish  of  France  nor  any  French  citizen 
may  acknowledge  upon  any  occasion,  or  upon  any  pretext 
whatsoever,  the  authority  of  an  ordinary  bishop  or  of  an  arch- 
bishop whose  see  shall  be  under  the  supremacy  of  a  foreign 
power,  nor  that  of  his  representatives  residing  in  France  or 
elsewhere ;  without  prejudice,  however,  to  the  unity  of  the 
faith  and  the  intercourse  which  shall  be  maintained  with  the 
visible  head  of  the  universal  Church,  as  hereafter  provided. 

VI.  A  new  arrangement  and  division  of  all  the  parishes  of 
the  kingdom  shall  be  undertaken  immediately  in  concert  with 
the  bishop  and  the  district  administration. 

XX.  All  titles  and  ofifices  other  than  those  mentioned  in  the 
present  constitution,  all  dignities,  canonries,  prebends,  half  pre- 
bends, chapels,  chaplainships,  both  in  cathedral  and  collegiate 
churches,  all  regular  and  secular  chapters  for  either  sex,  abba- 
cies and  priorships,  both  regular  and  in  co?nmendam,  for  either 
sex,  as  w^ell  as  all  other  benefices  and  prestimonies  in  general, 
of  whatever  kind  or  denomination,  are  from  the  day  of  this 
decree  extinguished  and  abolished  and  shall  never  be  reestab- 
lished in  any  form. 

Tide  II 

Article  I.  Beginning  with  the  day  of  publication  of  the 
present  decree,  there  shall  be  but  one  mode  of  choosing 
bishops  and  parish  priests,  namely  by  election. 

II.  All  elections  shall  be  by  ballot  and  shall  be  decided  by 
the  absolute  majority  of  the  votes. 

III.  The  election  of  bishops  shall  take  place  according  to 
the  forms  and  by  the  electoral  body  designated  in  the  decree 
of  December  22,  1789,  for  the  election  of  members  of  the 
departmental  assembly. 

1  The  remaining  names  of  the  archbishoprics  are  here  omitted. 


The  French  Revohition  275 

VI.  The  election  of  a  bishop  can  only  take  place  or  be 
undertaken  upon  Sunday,  in  the  principal  church  of  the  chief 
town  of  the  department,  at  the  close  of  the  parish  mass,  at 
which  all  the  electors  are  required  to  be  present. 

VII.  In  order  to  be  eligible  to  a  bishopric,  one  must  have 
fulfilled  for  fifteen  years  at  least  the  duties  of  religious  min- 
istry in  the  diocese,  as  a  parish  priest,  ofiiciating  minister,  or 
curate,  or  as  superior,  or  as  directing  vicar  of  the  seminary. 

XIX.  The  new  bishop  may  not  apply  to  the  Pope  for  any 
form  of  confirmation,  but  shall  write  to  him,  as  to  the  visible 
head  of  the  universal  Church,  as  a  testimony  to  the  unity  of 
faith  and  communion  maintained  with  him. 

XXI.  Before  the  ceremony  of  consecration  begins,  the  bishop  Bishops 
elect  shall  take  a  solemn  oath,  in  the  presence  of  the  municipal  required  to 

„  .     ,  ,  ^       r     ^         \  1-1  t^ke  an  oath 

officers,  of  the  people,  and  of  the  clergy,  to  guard  with  care  ^^  support 
the  faithful  of  his  diocese  who  are  confided  to  him,  to  be  loyal  the  new 
to  the  nation,  the  law,  and  the  king,  and  to  support  with  all  constitution 
his  power  the  constitution  decreed  by  the  National  Assembly 
and  accepted  by  the  king. 

XXV.  The  election  of  the  parish  priests  shall  take  place 
according  to  the  forms  and  by  the  electors  designated  in  the 
decree  of  December  22,  1789,  for  the  election  of  members  of 
the  administrative  assembly  of  the  district. 

XL.  Bishoprics  and  cures  shall  be  looked  upon  as  vacant 
until  those  elected  to  fill  them  shall  have  taken  the  oath 
above  mentioned. 

Title  III 

Article  I.  The  ministers  of  religion,  performing  as  they  do  Salaries  of 
the  first  and  most  important  functions  of  society  and  forced  to  ^^^hops  and 

pri6sts 

live  continuously  in  the  place  where  they  discharge  the  offices 
to  which  they  have  been  called  by  the  confidence  of  the  people, 
shall  be  supported  by  the  nation. 

II.  Every  bishop,  priest,  and  officiating  clergyman  in  a 
chapel  of  ease  shall  be  furnished  with  a  suitable  dwelling,  on 
condition,  however,  that  the  occupant  shall  make  all  the  neces- 
sary current  repairs.  This  shall  not  affect  at  present,  in  any 
way,  those  parishes  where  the  priest  now  receives  a  money 


2/6         Readings  in  Moderii  Eiiropcan  History 

equivalent  instead  of  his  dwelling.  The  departments  shall, 
moreover,  have  cognizance  of  suits  arising  in  this  connection, 
brought  by  the  parishes  and  by  the  priests.  Salaries  shall  be 
assigned  to  each,  as  indicated  below. 

III.  The  bishop  of  Paris  shall  receive  fifty  thousand  livres ; 
the  bishops  of  the  cities  having  a  population  of  fifty  thousand 
or  more,  twenty  thousand  livres ;  other  bishops,  twelve  thou- 
sand livres. 

V.  The  salaries  of  the  parish  priests  shall  be  as  follows  :  in 
Paris,  six  thousand  livres;  in  cities  having  a  population  of 
fifty  thousand  or  over,  four  thousand  livres;  in  those  having 
a  population  of  less  than  fifty  thousand  and  more  than  ten 
thousand,  three  thousand  livres ;  in  cities  and  towns  of  which 
the  population  is  below  ten  thousand  and  more  than  three 
thousand,  twenty-four  hundred  livres.  In  all  other  cities,  towns, 
and  villages  where  the  parish  shall  have  a  population  between 
three  thousand  and  twenty-five  hundred,  two  thousand  livres ; 
in  those  between  twenty-five  hundred  and  two  thousand,  eigh- 
teen hundred  livres  ;  in  those  having  a  population  of  less  than 
two  thousand,  and  more  than  one  thousand,  the  salary  shall  be 
fifteen  hundred  livres;  in  those  having  one  thousand  inhab- 
itants and  under,  twelve  hundred  livres. 

VII.  The  salaries  in  mo7iey  of  the  ministers  of  religion  shall 
be  paid  every  three  months,  in  advance,  by  the  treasurer  of 
the  district. 

XII.  In  view  of  the  salary  which  is  assured  to  them  by  the 
present  constitution,  the  bishops,  parish  priests,  and  curates 
shall  perform  the  episcopal  and  priestly  functions  gratis. 

Title  IV 

Bishops  and        ARTICLE  I.  The  law  requiring  the  residence  of  ecclesiastics 

priests  must    -j^  ^^  districts  under  their  charge  shall  be  strictly  observed. 

residence  and  All  vested  with  an  ecclesiastical   office  or  function  shall  be 

perform  their  subject  to  this,  without  distinction  or  exception. 

uties  jj^  -^^  bishop  shall  absent  himself  from  his  diocese  more 

than  two  weeks  consecutively  during  the  year,  except  in  case 

of  real  necessity  and  with  the  consent  of  the  directory  of  the 

department  in  which  his  see  is  situated. 


The  French  Revohition  277 

III.  In  the  same  manner,  the  parish  priests  and  the  curates 
may  not  absent  themselves  from  the  place  of  their  duties 
beyond  the  term  fixed  above,  except  for  weighty  reasons,  and 
even  in  such  cases  the  priests  must  obtain  the  permission  both 
of  their  bishop  and  of  the  directory  of  their  district,  and  the 
curates  that  of  the  parish  priest. 

VI.  Bishops,  parish  priests,  and  curates  may,  as  active  citi- 
zens, be  present  at  the  primary  and  electoral  assemblies ;  they 
may  be  chosen  electors,  or  as  deputies  to  the  Legislative  Body, 
or  as  members  of  the  general  council  of  their  communes  or  of 
the  administrative  councils  of  their  districts  or  departments. 


CHAPTER   XIII 

THE  FIRST  FRENCH  REPUBLIC 

Sectio7t  jy .     The  Abolitioii  of  the  AIo7iarcJiy  (lygi-iygi) 

The  National  Assembly,  which  had  done  so  much  to 
reform  France,  was  drawing  to  a  close  in  the  summer  of 
1 79 1,  after  two  years  of  arduous  labor.  It  was  subject- 
ing the  new  constitution,  which  it  had  been  drafting,  to  a 
final  revision  before  it  left  the  task  of  government  to 
the  king  and  the  Legislative  Assembly,  after  carefully 
defining  and  restricting  the  powers  of  both.  The  flight 
of  the  king  toward  the  eastern  frontier,  on  June  20, 
1 79 1,  served  to  show  how  slight  w^as  the  chance  that 
the  new  government  would  succeed,  when  the  monarch 
was  ready  to  desert  his  people  in  order  to  put  himself  in 
the  hands  of  foreign  powers  and  of  the  runaway  nobles. 
The  impression  that  the  news  of  the  king's  flight  made 
upon  the  people  of  Paris  is  described  by  Prudhomme,  a 
well-known  journalist  of  the  time,  in  his  newspaper. 

123.  How  It  was  not  until  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning  that  the  munici- 

the  Pari-        p^j   government   announced,  by  firing  a  cannon   thrice,  the 

the  flight  of    unexpected  event  of  the  day.    But  for  three  hours  the  news 

the  king         had  already  been  passing  from  mouth  to  mouth  and  was  circu- 

(June  20,        lating  in  all  quarters  of  the  city.    During  these  three  hours 

(FromPrud-  many  outrages   might   have  been  committed.    The  king  had 

homme's        gone.    This  news  produced  a  moment  of  anxiety,  and  every- 

Revolutions    ^^^^  ^^^  1^  ^  crowd  to  the  palace  of  the  Tuileries  to  see  if  it 

were  true  ;  but  every  one  turned  almost  immediately  to  the  hall 

where  the  National  Assembly  met,  declaring  that  their  king  was 

in  there  and  that  Louis  XVI  might  go  where  he  pleased. 

278 


TJie  First  French  Republic  279 

Then  the  people  became  curious  to  visit  the  apartments 
vacated  by  the  royal  family ;  they  traversed  them  all,  and  we 
questioned  the  sentinels  we  found  there,  "  Where,  and  how, 
could  he  have  escaped?  How  could  this  fat  royal  person,  who 
complained  of  the  meanness  of  his  lodging,  manage  to  make 
himself  invisible  to  the  sentries,  —  he  whose  girth  would  stop 
up  any  passage?"  The  soldiers  of  the  guard  had  nothing  to 
say  to  this.  We  insisted  :  ''  This  flight  is  not  natural ;  your 
commanders  must  have  been  in  the  plot,  ...  for  while  you 
were  at  your  post  Louis  XVI  left  his  without  your  knowing  it 
and  yet  passing  close  to  you."  These  reflections,  which  natu- 
rally suggested  themselves,  account  for  the  reception  which 
made  Lafayette  pale  when  he  appeared  in  the  Place  de  Greve 
and  passed  along  the  quays.  He  took  refuge  in  the  National 
Assembly,  where  he  made  some  confessions  that  did  little  to 
restore  him  to  popular  favor. 

Far  from  being  "famished  for  a  glimpse  of  the  king,"  the 
people  proved,  by  the  way  in  which  they  took  the  escape  of 
Louis  XVI,  that  they  were  sick  of  the  throne  and  tired  of  pay- 
ing for  it.  If  they  had  known,  moreover,  that  Louis  XVI,  in 
his  message,  which  was  just  then  being  read  in  the  National 
Assembly,  complained  "  that  he  had  not  been  able  to  find  in 
the  palace  of  the  Tuileries  the  most  simple  conveniences  of 
life,"  the  people  might  have  been  roused  to  some  excess ;  but 
they  knew  their  own  strength  and  did  not  permit  themselves 
any  of  those  little  exhibitions  of  vengeance  which  are  natural 
to  irritated  weakness. 

They  contented  themselves  with  making  sport,  in  their  own  Conduct  of 
way,  of  royalty  and  of  the  man  who  was  invested  with  it.    The  the  populace 

-".•'•'.  in  the  royal 

portrait  of  the  king  was  taken  down  from  its  place  of  honor  apartments 
and  hung  on  the  door.  A  fruit  woman  took  possession  of 
Antoinette's  bed  and  used  it  to  display  her  cherries,  saying, 
"  It 's  the  nation's  turn  now  to  be  comfortable."  A  young  girl 
refused  to  let  them  put  the  queen's  bonnet  on  her  head  and 
trampled  on  it  with  indignation  and  contempt.  They  had  more 
respect  for  the  dauphin's  study,  —  but  we  should  blush  to  give 
a  list  of  the  titles  of  the  books  which  his  mother  had  selected 
for  him. 


28o  Readi7igs  in  Modern  European  History 

The  streets  and  public  squares  offered  a  spectacle  of  another 
kind.  The  national  force  deployed  itself  everywhere  in  an  im- 
posing manner.  The  brave  Santerre  alone  enrolled  two  thou- 
sand pikemen  in  \{\'s>  faubou)-g.  These  were  not  the  "active" 
citizens  and  the  royal  bluecoats,  that  were  enjoying  the  honors 
of  the  celebration.  The  woolen  caps  reappeared  and  eclipsed 
the  bearskins.  The  women  contested  with  the  men  the  duty 
of  guarding  the  city  gates,  saying,  "  It  was  the  women  who 
brought  the  king  to  Paris  and  the  men  who  let  him  escape." 
But  do  not  boast  too  loudly,  ladies ;  it  was  not  much  of  a 
present,  after  all. 

The  prevailing  spirit  was  apathy  in  regard  to  kings  in  gen- 
eral and  contempt  for  Louis  XVI  in  particular.  This  showed 
itself  in  the  least  details.  On  the  Place  de  Greve  the  people 
broke  up  a  bust  of  Louis  XVI,  which  was  illuminated  by  that 
celebrated  lantern  which  had  been  a  source  of  terror  to  the 
enemies  of  the  Revolution.  When  will  the  people  execute  jus- 
tice upon  all  these  bronze  kings,  monuments  of  our  idolatry  ? 
In  the  Rue  St.  Honors  they  forced  a  dealer  to  sacrifice  a  plaster 
head  which  somewhat  resembled  Louis  XVI.  In  another  shop 
they  contented  themselves  with  putting  a  paper  band  over 
his  eyes.  The  words  "king,"  "queen,"  "royal,"  "Bourbon," 
"Louis,"  "court,"  "Monsieur,"  "the  king's  brother,"  were 
effaced  wherever  they  were  found  on  pictures  or  on  the  signs 
over  shops  and  stores. 

While  the  National  Assembly  naturally  tried  to  shield 
the  king  after  his  unmistakable  attempt  to  escape  be- 
yond the  boundaries  of  France,  many  leaders  in  the  clubs 
denounced  him  as  a  traitor  and  demanded  his  deposition. 
A  petition  was  drafted  in  which  the  National  Assembly 
was  requested  to  regard  the  flight  of  Louis  XVI  as 
tantamount  to  his  abdication.  This  was  submitted  on 
July  17  to  the  crowds  which  collected  on  the  Champ 
de  Mars  in  Paris.  Some  disorder  having  arisen,  the 
crowd  treated  the  National  Guard  with  disrespect,  and 


The  First  French  Republic  281 

the  command  was  finally  given  to  fire  upon  the  people. 
Lafayette,  then  head  of  the  guard,  and  others  tried  later 
to  justify  the  harsh  command,  and  were  furiously  attacked 
by  Marat  in  his  famous  newspaper,  The  People' s  Friend. 
The  following  extract  from  it  furnishes  a  good  illustration 
of  the  attitude  of  the  violent  republicans  at  this  time  : 

O  credulous  Parisians  !  can  you  be  duped  by  these  shameful  124.  Marat 
deceits  and  cowardly  impostures?    See  if  their  aim  in  massa-  ^^t^cks 
cring  the  patriots  was  not  to  annihilate  your  clubs  !    Even  while  and^the 
the  massacre  was  going  on,  the  emissaries  of  Mottier  [i.e.  Lafa-  royalists 
yette]  were  running  about  the  streets  mixing  with  the  groups  of 
people  and  loudly  accusing  the  fraternal  societies  and  the  club 
of  the  Cordeliers  of  causing  the  misfortunes.   The  same  evening 
the  club  of  the  Cordeliers,  wishing  to  come  together,  found  the 
doors  of  their  place  of  meeting  nailed  up.    Two  pieces  of  artil- 
lery barred  the  entrance  to  the  Fraternal  Society,  and  only  those 
conscript  fathers  who  were  sold  to  the  court  were  permitted  to 
enter  the  Jacobin  Club,  by  means  of  their  deputy's  cards. 

Not  satisfied  with  annihilating  the  patriotic  associations,  these 
scoundrels  violate  the  liberty  of  the  press,  annihilate  the  Decla- 
ration of  Rights  —  the  rights  of  nature.  Cowardly  citizens,  can 
you  hear  this  without  trembling?  They  declare  the  oppressed, 
who,  in  order  to  escape  their  tyranny,  would  make  a  weapon 
of  his  despair  and  counsel  the  massacre  of  his  oppressors,  a 
disturber  of  the  public  peace.  They  declare  every  citizen  a 
disturber  of  the  public  peace  who  cries,  in  an  uprising,  to  the 
ferocious  satellites  to  lower  or  lay  down  their  arms,  thus  meta- 
morphosing into  crimes  the  very  humanity  of  peaceful  citizens, 
the  cries  of  terror  and  natural  self-defense. 

Infamous  legislators,  vile  scoundrels,  monsters  satiated  with 
gold  and  blood,  privileged  brigands  who  traffic  with  the  mon- 
arch, with  our  fortunes,  our  rights,  our  liberty,  and  our  lives  ! 
You  thought  to  strike  terror  into  the  hearts  of  patriotic  writers 
and  paralyze  them  with  fright  at  the  sight  of  the  punishments 
you  inflict.  I  flatter  myself  that  they  will  not  soften.  As  for 
The  Friend  of  the  People^  you  know  that  for  a  long  time  your 


282  Readifigs  in  Modern  Euivpean  History 

decrees  directed  against  the  Declaration  of  Rights  have  been 
waste  paper  to  him.  Could  he  but  rally  at  his  call  two  thousand 
determined  men  to  save  the  country,  he  would  proceed  at  their 
head  to  tear  out  the  heart  of  the  infernal  Mottier  in  the  midst 
of  his  battalions  of  slaves.  He  would  burn  the  monarch  and 
his  minions  in  his  palace,  and  impale  you  on  your  seats  and 
bury  you  in  the  burning  ruins  of  your  lair. 

The  flight  of  the  king,  his  arrest  at  Varennes,  and 
the  agitation  which  accompanied  and  followed  the  affair 
led  the  queen's  brother,  the  Emperor  Leopold,  to  issue, 
in  concert  with  the  king  of  Prussia,  the  Declaration  of 
Pillnitz.  This  was  regarded  by  the  French  as  an  expres- 
sion of  sympathy  for  the  Emigres  and  as  a  promise  to 
form  a  European  alliance  for  the  purpose  of  undoing  the 
Revolution  in  France.  To  those  who  signed  the  decla- 
ration it  was,  however,  scarcely  more  than  an  empty 
threat,  which  they  had  little  idea  of  carrying  out. 

125.  The  His  Majesty  the  Emperor  and  his  Majesty  the  king  of  Prus- 

Declaration  g-g^^  having  given  attention  to  the  wishes  and  representations 
(August  27,  of  Monsieur  [the  brother  of  the  king  of  France],  and  of  Mon- 
1791)  sieur  le  Comte  d'Artois,  jointly  declare  that  they  regard  the 

present  situation  of  his  Majesty  the  king  of  France  as  a  matter 
of  common  interest  to  all  the  sovereigns  of  Europe.  They 
trust  that  this  interest  will  not  fail  to  be  recognized  by  the 
powers,  whose  aid  is  solicited ;  and  that  in  consequence  they 
will  not  refuse  to  employ,  in  conjunction  with  their  said 
majesties,  the  most  efficient  means,  in  proportion  to  their 
resources,  to  place  the  king  of  France  in  a  position  to  estab- 
lish, with  the  most  absolute  freedom,  the  foundations  of  a 
monarchical  form  of  government,  which  shall  at  once  be  in 
harmony  with  the  rights  of  sovereigns  and  promote  the  welfare 
of  the  French  nation.    In  that  case^  their  said  majesties  the 

1  Namely,  in  case  the  other  powers  agreed  to  join  them  in  checking 
the  Revolution.  The  signers  of  the  declaration  well  knew  that  England 
would  not  associate  itself  with  them  for  such  a  purpose  and  that  conse- 
quently their  threat  would  not  be  executed. 


The  First  Fre?ich  Republic  283 

emperor  and  the  king  of  Prussia  are  resolved  to  act  promptly 

and  in  common  accord  with  the  forces  necessary  to  obtain  the 

desired  common  end. 

In  the  meantime  they  will  give  such  orders  to  their  troops 

as  are  necessary  in  order  that  these  may  be  ready  to  be  called 

into  active  service. 

Leopold 

Frederick  William 

PiLLNITZ,  August    27,   179I 

The  views  of  the  more  conservative  royalists  in  re- 
gard to  the  work  of  the  National  Assembly  are  expressed 
in  the  following  editorial  in  the  well-known  periodical, 
Le  Mercure  de  France.  This  article  was  written  by  Mal- 
let du  Pan,  the  editor,  who,  although  he  clearly  realized 
the  vices  of  the  Aitcien  Regime  and  did  not  wish  it 
restored,  nevertheless  held,  like  many  thoughtful  men 
of  the  time,  that  the  Assembly  had  been  very  unwise 
in  its  methods. 

The  Constitutional  Assembly  cannot  fail,  without  denying  126.  Opinion 
positive  and  accepted  facts,  to  recognize  that,  as  a  result  of  of  a  con- 
its  doctrines   and   action,  it  leaves   every  religious   principle  royalist  on 
destroyed,  morals  in  the  last  stage  of  degradation,  free  sway  the  work  of 
to  every  vice,  the  rights  of  property  violated  and  undermined,  Ag^sembly" 
our  forces,  both  land  and  naval,  in  a  worse  state  than  at  the 
opening  of  its  reign ;  that  it  has  shaken,  if  not  destroyed,  the 
foundation   of   all   military  organization ;     that    it   leaves   our 
finances  in  chaos,  the  public  debt  considerably  augmented, 
the  annual  deficit,  according  to  the  most  favorable  calculators, 
increased  by  half,  the  taxes   in   arrears,   their   payment  sus- 
pended, having  struck  at  their  very  roots  by  the  recklessness 
of  an  absolutely  new  system  of  which  the  immediate  effects 
have  been   to  make  the  people  regard  themselves  as  freed 
from  taxation. 

It  cannot  disguise  from  itself  that  our  influence  and  repu- 
tation in  Europe  are  eclipsed  ;  that  our  commerce  is  less 
flourishing,  our  industry  less  productive,  our   population  less 


284  Readings  in  Modern  Eiiropeayi  History 

numerous ;  that  our  labor  has  decreased  as  well  as  the  national 
wealth ;  that  it  has  caused  the  disappearance  of  the  specie 
and  dissipated  an  enormous  amount  of  the  public  capital ; 
that,  finally,  our  internal  police,  in  spite  of  numerous  guards, 
is  more  oppressive  and  less  effective  than  it  was  before  the 
Revolution. 

We  w^ill  add,  what  no  one  can  deny,  that  the  number  of 
unfortunates  of  all  classes  has  increased  to  a  most  frightful 
extent ;  that  misery  and  despair  cast  a  funeral  pall  over  the 
songs  of  triumph,  the  illuminations,  the  Te  Deums  and  con- 
gratulatory speeches.  I  do  not  speak  of  the  clergy  and  nobil- 
ity; their  condition  and  birth  having  rendered  them  criminal 
in  the  eyes  of  the  dominant  party,  their  misfortunes  are  un- 
doubtedly well-merited  punishments,  and  four  or  five  hundred 
private  individuals,  having  declared  themselves  inviolable, 
have  assumed  the  right  to  determine  their  fate  as  the  judge 
determines  that  of  criminals ;  but  I  ask  that  a  single  class  of 
Frenchmen,  except  the  stockbrokers,  be  pointed  out  to  me 
whose  fortunes  have  not  diminished  and  w^hose  resources  and 
prosperity  have  not  been  painfully  affected  ! 

In  order  justly  to  appreciate  the  conduct  of  our  first  law- 
makers, we  must  avoid  the  sophism  by  which  they  have  con- 
stantly fascinated  the  common  people,  —  that  of  comparing 
the  present  situation  of  France  with  the  disastrous  results  of 
the  most  horrible  despotism.  That  is  a  false  standpoint  to 
which  knaves  and  fools  are  always  careful  to  revert.  A  vast 
number  of  citizens  do  not  desire  the  old  any  more  than  the 
new  regime,  and  the  reproaches  heaped  upon  the  latter  have 
no  bearing  on  the  reform  of  the  older  system.  In  order  to 
overcome  the  disapprobation  of  the  citizens  it  must  be  proved 
that,  without  the  action  of  the  Assembly  and  the  public  and 
private  calamities  which  this  has  involved,  France  would 
never  have  gained  freedom,  the  security  of  person  and  prop- 
erty, safety  (which  is  the  first  condition  of  a  good  govern- 
ment), peace  (which  is  its  sign),  political  equality,  plenty, 
strength,  order,  and  general  consideration.  It  would,  more- 
over, have  to  be  proved  that  the  Assembly  had  not  the  power 
to  choose  other  institutions ;  that  no  middle  course  presented 


The  First  French  Republic  285 

itself,  and  that  the  only  government  adapted  to  the  existing 
exigencies  was  that  which  the  Assembly  proclaimed,  since  no 
other  offered  such  obvious  advantages  or  a  more  evidently 
propitious  future. 

The  spontaneous  origin  of  the  Jacobin  Club,  which 
was  to  play  such  a  conspicuous  role  in  the  Revolution,  is 
here  described  by  one  of  its  prominent  early  members, 
Alexandre  de  Lameth.  The  society  grew  with  astonish- 
ing rapidity.  By  December,  1 790,  there  were  eleven  hun- 
dred names  enrolled  upon  the  list  of  Paris  members,  and 
by  June,  1 791,  the  affiliated  clubs  throughout  the  prov- 
inces numbered  four  hundred  and  six.  It  must  not  be 
supposed  that  the  Jacobins  represented  a  well-defined 
policy  or  defended  a  single  set  of  political  opinions.  Nor 
were  they  by  any  means  always  in  agreement  among 
themselves.  For  example,  in  the  winter  of  1 791-1792  a 
strong  party  among  them  opposed  the  growing  tendency 
to  involve  France  in  a  war  with  Europe.  Lameth  makes 
clear  the  way  in  which  the  society  supplemented  the 
National  Assembly. 

After  the  transfer  of  the  Assembly  to  Paris  [October,  1789],  127.  How 
the  deputies  from  provinces  which  were  distant  from  the  cap-  *^®  Jacobin 
ital,  and  who,  for  the  most  part,  had  never  visited  Paris  (for  nated  in 
traveling  was  not  so  easy  then  as  it  is  now),  experienced  a  1789 
sort  of  terror  at  the  idea  of  being  alone  and,  so  to  speak,  lost 
in  the  midst  of  this  huge  city.    They  almost  all,  consequently, 
endeavored  to  lodge  as  near  as  possible  to  the  Assembly,  which 
then  sat  near  the  Feuillants  (at  the  point  where  the  Rue  de 
Rivoli  and  the  Rue  Castiglione  now  intersect),  in  order  that 
they  might  be  easily  found  in  case  of  necessity.    But  they  were 
desirous  that  there  should  also  be  a  place  where  they  might 
meet  to  agree  upon  the  direction  of  public   matters.    They 
applied  to   residents  of  the  capital  in  whom  they  had  con- 
fidence ;    a    search   was    made    in    the    neighborhood   of   the 


286  Readings  in  Modern  European  History 

Assembly,  and  the  refectory  of  the  convent  of  the  Jacobins  was 
leased  for  two  hundred  francs  a  year.  The  necessary  furniture, 
which  consisted  of  chairs  and  tables  for  the  committee,  was 
procured  for  a  like  sum. 

At  the  first  session  about  one  hundred  deputies  were  present, 
the  next  day  double  that  number.  The  Baron  de  Menou  was 
elected  president,  and  Target,  Barnave,  Alexandre  de  Lameth, 
Le  Chapelier,  and  Adrien  du  Port  were  elected  secretaries,  as 
well  as  three  others  whose  names  have  escaped  me.  A  com- 
mittee was  chosen  to  draw  up  a  list  of  regulations,  of  which 
Barnave  was  the  chairman.  The  society  decided  on  the  name 
Friends  of  the  Constitution.  It  was  determined  that  all  mem- 
bers of  the  x'\ssembly  should  be  admitted,  but  only  such  other 
persons  should  be  received  as  had  published  useful  works. 
The  first  to  be  thus  received  were  Condorcet,  the  Marquis  de 
Casotte,  a  distinguished  economist,  the  Abbe  Lecamus,  a  math- 
ematician, and  a  small  number  of  other  savants  or  publicists. 

The  aim  of  the  Society  of  the  Friends  of  the  Constitution 
was  to  discuss  questions  which  were  already,  or  were  about  to 
be  placed,  upon  the  calendar  of  the  National  Assembly.  It 
cannot  be  denied  that,  inasmuch  as  the  nondeputies  present 
exercised  no  restraint  upon  these  discussions,  they  often  had 
more  force  and  brilliancy  than  in  the  Assembly  itself,  where 
one  found  himself  hindered  by  the  violent  contradictions  of 
the  right  wing,  and  often  intimidated  by  a  crowd  of  spectators. 

The  preliminary  consideration  shed  a  great  deal  of  light 
upon  the  discussions  in  the  Assembly.  The  resolve  to  select 
within  the  society  itself,  by  preliminary  ballots,  the  nominees 
for  president,  secretaries,  and  the  committees  of  the  Assem- 
bly, proved  a  great  advantage  to  the  popular  party ;  for  from 
that  time  the  elections  were  almost  always  carried  by  the  left, 
although  up  to  that  time  they  had  been  almost  entirely  con- 
trolled by  the  right.  Camus,  an  ecclesiastical  lawyer,  then 
president  and  since  become  a  republican,  had  been  elected 
by  the  aristocracy. 

The  number  of  the  deputies  who  customarily  frequented 
the  Society  of  the  Friends  of  the  Constitution  quickly  rose  to 
nearly  four  hundred.     The  number  of  writers  also  increased 


The  First  French  Republic  287 

in  a  marked  ratio.  But  it  was  not  long  before  the  condition  of 
having  published  a  useful  book  was  no  longer  required  for  ad- 
mission to  the  society,  and  it  was  decided  that  it  was  sufficient 
to  have  been  recommended  by  six  members.  The  organization 
then  grew  larger,  and  no  longer  possessed  the  same  solidity  in 
its  composition.  Very  soon  the  place  of  meeting  became  in- 
sufficient, and  permission  was  obtained  from  the  monks  of  the 
convent  to  meet  in  their  library,  and  later,  in  their  church. 

Along  in  December,  1789,  many  of  the  leading  inhabitants 
of  the  provinces,  having  come  to  Paris  either  on  private  business 
or  to  follow  more  closely  the  course  of  public  affairs,  had  them- 
selves introduced  at  the  society  and  expressed  a  desire  to  estab- 
lish similar  ones  in  the  chief  cities  of  France  ;  for  they  felt  that 
these  associations  of  citizens  intent  upon  defending  the  cause 
of  public  interest  would  form  an  efficient  means  of  counter- 
acting the  violent  opposition  of  the  aristocracy,  a  class  which 
had  not  yet  lost  the  power  which  it  had  so  long  exercised. 

The  early  months  of  the  Legislative  Assembly  were 
mainly  occupied  with  the  policy  to  be  pursued  toward 
three  classes  of  opponents  to  the  Revolution,  —  the  run- 
away nobles,  the  foreign  powers,  who  seemed  ready  to 
aid  them,  and,  at  home,  the  members  of  the  clergy, 
who  refused  to  support  the  new  constitution.  The  king 
was  also  regarded  with  the  greatest  suspicion.  Since 
the  flight  to  Varennes  and  the  Declaration  of  Pillnitz  it 
seemed  clear  to  both  the  Assembly  and  the  people  at 
large  that  the  king  was  in  all  probability  relying  upon 
help  from  foreign  powers.  That  they  were  quite  right 
in  this  assumption  has  since  been  proved  by  the  discov- 
ery of  letters  like  the  following  which  Louis  was  at  the 
time  secretly  dispatching  to  his  fellow-monarchs. 

Paris,  December  3,  1791 
My  Brother : 

I  have  learned  through  M.  du  Moustier  of  the  interest  which 

your  Majesty  has  expressed  not  only  in  my  person  but  also  in 


288  Readings  in  Modem  European  Histoiy 

128.  Letter     the  welfare  of  my  kingdom.     In  giving  me  these  proofs,  the 

of  Louis  XVI  attitude  of  your  Majesty  has,  in  all  cases  where  your  interest 
to  the  king  .   ,  j         .  ^  1  /a  ^■     1 

of  Prussia       might   prove  advantageous   to   my  people,  excited  my  lively 

suggesting      appreciation.    I  confidently  take  advantage  of  it  at  this  time 
foreign  inter-  ^^'^^^   j^  spite  of  the  fact  that  I  have  accepted  the  new  con- 
vention m  '  ,  .  .         ,1  1         1  -1  •  •         1     • 
French           stitution,  seditious  leaders  are  openly  exhibiting  their  purpose 

affairs  of  entirely  destroying  the  remnants  of  the  monarchy.    I  have 

just  addressed  myself  to  the  emperor,  the  empress  of  Russia, 
and  to  the  kings  of  Spain  and  Sweden ;  I  am  suggesting  to 
them  the  idea  of  a  congress  of  the  chief  powers  of  Europe, 
supported  by  an  armed  force,  as  the  best  means  of  checking 
seditious  parties,  of  establishing  a  more  desirable  order  of 
things,  and  of  preventing  the  evil  which  afflicts  us  from  reach- 
ing the  other  states  of  Europe. 

I  trust  that  your  Majesty  will  approve  my  ideas,  and  that 
you  will  maintain  the  most  absolute  secrecy  about  the  proposi- 
tion I  am  making  to  you.  You  will  easily  understand  that  the 
circumstances  in  which  I  find  myself  force  me  to  observe  the 
greatest  caution.  That  is  why  no  one  but  the  baron  of  Breteui) 
is  informed  of  my  plans,  and  your  Majesty  may  therefore  com- 
municate to  him  anything  you  wish.  .  .  . 

Your  good  brother, 

Louis 

The  king  not  unnaturally  refused  to  sanction  the  edicts 
which  the  Assembly  directed  against  the  emigrant  no- 
bles, but  he  wrote  to  his  brothers  expostulating  with 
them  for  increasing  his  unpopularity  by  their  impolitic 
language  and  their  intrigues  with  foreign  powers. 

On  October  31,  on  motion  of  the  Girondist,  Isnard, 
the  Assembly  bluntly  ordered  the  king's  older  brother, 
the  count  of  Provence,  to  return  to  France  on  pain  of 
losing  all  rights  to  the  regency. 

Louis  Stanislas  Xazner,  P?-i?ice  of  France : 

The  National  Assembly  requires  you  in  virtue  of  the  French 
constitution,  title  III,  chapter  ii,  section  3,  article  2,  to  return 


The  First  French  Republic  289 

to  the  kingdom  within  a  period  of  two  months  from  to-day,  129.  The 
faihng  which  you  will,  after  the  expiration  of  the  said  period,  count  of 
1  :•  '•   u.  .     .u  ^  '  Provence 

lose  your  contingent  right  to  the  regency.  summoned 

back  to 

On  December  6  the  count  published  the  above  order  France;  and 
in  Coblenz  (the  Emigres'  center  of  activity),  with  the  fol-  fepiyTo^liT 
lowing  counter-proclamation  of  his  own.  Assembly 

Members  of  the  French  Assembly^  calli^ig  itself  National : 

Sanity  requires  you,  in  virtue  of  title  I,  chapter  i,  section 
I,  article  i,  of  the  imprescriptible  laws  of  common  sense,  to 
return  to  yourselves  within  a  period  of  two  months  from  to- 
day, failing  which  you  will,  after  the  expiration  of  the  said 
period,  be  regarded  as  having  lost  your  right  to  be  considered 
reasonable  beings,  and  will  be  regarded  as  madmen,  fit  for  the 
insane  asylum. 

Since  the  opening  of  the  Legislative  Assembly  most 
of  the  Girondists  had  been  advocating  war,  which  they 
believed  would  force  the  king  to  take  a  definite  stand 
either  with  or  against  the  nation.  When  war  was  finally 
declared  against  Austria,  April  20,  the  Assembly  assigned 
the  following  reasons  for  its  action  : 

The  National  Assembly,  deliberating  upon  the  formal  propo-  130.  The 

sition  of  the  king,  in  view  of  the  fact  that  the  court  of  Vienna,  ^^^"^\, 

^  .        ,  ,  ,  Assembly 

m  contempt  of  treaties,  has  not  ceased  to  extend  open  protec-  declares  war 

tion  to  French  rebels  ;  on  Austria 

That  it  has  instigated  and  formed  a  concert  with  several  of 

the  powers  of  Europe  directed  against  the  independence  and 

safety  of  the  French  nation  ; 

That  Francis  I,  king  of  Hungary  and  Bohemia,  has,  by  his  Reasons 

diplomatic  notes  of  the  i8th  of  March  and  the  7th  of  April  for  war 

last,  refused  to  renounce  this  concert ; 

That,  in  spite  of  the  proposition  made  to  him  by  the  note 

of   March   11,   1792,  to  reduce  to  a  peace  basis  the  troops 

upon  the  frontiers,  he  has  continued,  and  hastened,  hostile 

preparations ; 


290  Readmgs  in  Modern  European  History 

That  he  has  formally  attacked  the  sovereignty  of  the  French 
nation  by  declaring  his  intention  of  maintaining  the  claims  of 
the  German  princes  who  hold  territory  in  France,  whom  the 
French  nation  has  repeatedly  offered  to  indemnify ; 

That  he  has  endeavored  to  divide  the  citizens  of  France, 
and  arm  them  against  one  another  by  holding  out  to  the  mal- 
contents the  hope  of  assistance  from  a  concert  of  the  powers ; 

And  that,  finally,  by  his  refusal  to  reply  to  the  last  dispatches 
of  the  king  of  France,  he  leaves  no  hope  of  obtaining,  by  way 
of  friendly  negotiation,  the  redress  of  these  several  grievances, 
—  which  is  equivalent  to  a  declaration  of  war  ;  —  the  Assembly 
decrees  that  immediate  action  is  urgent. 
Firm  pur-  The  National  Assembly  proclaims  that  the  French  nation, 
pose  of  the  faithful  to  the  principles  consecrated  by  its  constitution,  "not 

French  to  ,  ,         ^  ^         .  ,  .  ^ 

make  no      to  undertake  any  war  with  a  view  to  conquest  nor  ever   to 

conquests    employ  its  forces  against  the  liberty  of  any  people,"  only  takes 

up  arms  for  the  maintenance  of  its  liberty  and  independence ; 

That  the  war  which  it  is  forced  to  prosecute  is  not  a  war 
of  nation  against  nation,  but  the  just  defense  of  a  free  people 
against  the  unjust  aggression  of  a  king ; 

That  the  French  nation  never  confuses  its  brethren  with  its 
real  enemies  ; 

That  it  will  neglect  nothing  which  may  reduce  the  curse  of 
war,  spare  and  preserve  property,  and  cause  all  the  unhappi- 
ness  inseparable  from  war  to  fall  alone  upon  those  who  have 
conspired  against  its  liberty ; 

That  it  adopts  in  advance  all  foreigners  who,  abjuring  the 
cause  of  its  enemies,  shall  range  themselves  under  its  banners 
and  consecrate  their  efforts  to  the  defense  of  liberty ;  and 
that  it  will  promote  by  all  means  in  its  power  their  settling 
in  France. 

Deliberating  upon  the  formal  proposition  of  the  king  and 
after  having  decreed  the  matter  one  of  urgent  importance, 
the  Assembly  decrees  war  against  the  king  of  Hungary  and 
of  Bohemia. 

The  victories  of  the  Austrians  which  followed  the 
declaration  of  war  called  forth  harsh  measures  against 


The  First  FrencJi  Repitblic  291 

enemies  at  home,  namely,  such  of  the  clergy  as  had  been 
roused  to  opposition  by  the  radical  ecclesiastical  reforms 
of  the  Assembly.  The  decree  of  May  27,  1792,  ordered 
the  expulsion  from  the  realm  of  those  clergymen  who 
refused  to  take  the  oath  to  the  constitution.  The  king 
increased  his  unpopularity  by  refusing  to  sanction  this 
measure  of  the  Assembly. 

.  .  .  The  National  Assembly,  considering  that  the  efforts  131.  Decree 
which  the  nonjuring  clergymen  are  constantly  making  to  over-  ^S^pst  the 
throw  the  constitution  preclude  the  supposition  that  these  said  clergy 
ecclesiastics  desire  to  unite  in  the  social  compact ;  considering 
that  it  would  compromise  the  public  safety  longer  to  regard  as 
members  of  society  men  who  are  evidently  seeking  to  dissolve 
it ;   and  in  view  of  the  fact  that  the  laws  are  without  force 
against  men  such  as  these  who,  operating  upon  the  conscience 
in  order  to  seduce  the   people,  nearly  always   conceal   their 
criminal  maneuvers  from  those  who  might  repress  and  punish 
them,  decrees  as  follows  : 

1.  The  deportation  of  nonjuring  ecclesiastics  shall  take  place  Definition  of 
as  a  measure  of  public  security  and  of  the  general  police  power,  "0"J""i^g 
in  the  cases  and  according  to  the  forms  hereinafter  set  forth. 

2.  x'Ml  those  shall  be  considered  as  nonjuring  ecclesiastics 
who,  being  subject  to  the  oath  prescribed  by  the  law  of 
December  26,  1790,  shall  not  have  taken  it;  those  also,  not 
included  in  the  said  law,  who  have  not  taken  the  civic  oath 
since  September  3,  last,  the  day  when  the  French  constitu- 
tion was  declared  completed;  finally,  those  who  shall  have 
retracted  either  oath. 

3.  When  twenty  active  citizens  of  the  same  canton  shall 
unite  in  a  demand  for  the  deportation  of  a  nonjuring  eccle- 
siastic, the  directory  of  the  department  shall  be  required 
to  pronounce  the  deportation  if  the  opinion  of  the  district 
directory  is  in  conformity  with  the  petition. 

15.  When  an  ecclesiastic  against  whom  deportation  has 
been  pronounced  is  enjoying  no  pension  or  revenue,  he  shall 


292  Readings  m  Modern  Enropeaji  History 


Accusations 
against  those 
who  have 
"  usurped" 
the  power  in 
France 


receive  three  livres  for  each  day's  journey  of  ten  leagues, 
as  far  as  the  frontiers,  in  order  to  support  him  on  the  way. 
These  charges  shall  be  borne  by  the  public  treasury  and 
advanced  by  the  treasury  of  the  district  in  which  the  said 
ecclesiastic  resides. 

16.  Those  ecclesiastics  against  whom  deportation  has  been 
pronounced  who  shall  remain  in  the  kingdom  after  announc- 
ing their  retirement,  or  who  shall  return  again  after  crossing  the 
boundary,  shall  be  condemned  to  imprisonment  for  ten  years. 

The  demands  for  the  suspension  of  Louis  XVI,  who 
was  generally  believed  to  be  in  traitorous  correspondence 
with  the  Austrians  and  Prussians,  became  numerous  in 
the  summer  of  1792;  but  it  remained  for  the  duke  of 
Brunswick  to  assure  the  downfall  of  the  monarchy  by 
his  proclamation,  which  became  known  in  Paris,  July  28, 
and  seemed  to  furnish  the  agitators  with  a  complete 
justification  for  the  revolt  which  they  were  already  plan- 
ning and  which  they  carried  out  on  August  10. 

Their  Majesties  the  emperor  and  the  king  of  Prussia  having 
intrusted  to  me  the  command  of  the  united  armies  which  they 
have  collected  on  the  frontiers  of  France,  I  desire  to  announce 
to  the  inhabitants  of  that  kingdom  the  motives  which  have 
determined  the  policy  and  aims  of  the  two  sovereigns. 

After  arbitrarily  violating  the  rights  of  the  German  princes 
in  Alsace  and  Lorraine,  disturbing  and  overthrowing  good  order 
and  legitimate  government  in  the  interior  of  the  realm,  com- 
mitting against  the  sacred  person  of  the  king  and  his  august 
family  outrages  and  brutalities  which  continue  to  be  renewed 
daily,  those  who  have  usurped  the  reins  of  government  have 
at  last  completed  their  work  by  declaring  an  unjust  war  on  his 
Majesty  the  emperor  and  attacking  his  provinces  situated  in 
the  Low  Countries.  Some  of  the  territories  of  the  Germanic 
empire  have  been  effected  by  this  oppression,  and  others  have 
only  escaped  the  same  fate  by  yielding  to  the  threats  of  the 
dominant  party  and  its  emissaries. 


The  First  Fjrtich  Republic  293 

His  Majesty  the  king  of  Prussia,  united  with  his  Imperial 
Majesty  by  the  bonds  of  a  strict  defensive  alliance  and  him- 
self a  preponderant  member  of  the  Germanic  body,  would 
have  felt  it  inexcusable  to  refuse  to  march  to  the  help  of  his 
ally  and  fellow-member  of  the  empire.  .  .   . 

To  these  important  interests  should  be  added  another  aim  Aims  of 
equally  important  and  very  close  to  the  hearts  of  the  two  sov-  *^^  ^^1^^^ 
ereigns,  —  namely,  to  put  an  end  to  the  anarchy  in  the  interior 
of  France,  to  check  the  attacks  upon  the  throne  and  the  altar, 
to  reestablish  the  legal  power,  to  restore  to  the  king  the  security 
and  the  liberty  of  which  he  is  now  deprived  and  to  place  him 
in  a  position  to  exercise  once  more  the  legitimate  authority 
which  belongs  to  him. 

Convinced  that  the  sane  portion  of  the  French  nation  abhors 
the  excesses  of  the  faction  which  dominates  it,  and  that  the 
majority  of  the  people  look  forward  with  impatience  to  the  time 
when  they  may  declare  themselves  openly  against  the  odious 
enterprises  of  their  oppressors,  his  Majesty  the  emperor  and 
his  Majesty  the  king  of  Prussia  call  upon  them  and  invite  them 
to  return  without  delay  to  the  path  of  reason,  justice,  order, 
and  peace.  In  accordance  with  these  views,  I,  the  undersigned, 
the  commander  in  chief  of  the  two  armies,  declare  : 

1 .  That,  drawn  into  this  war  by  irresistible  circumstances,  The  allied 
the  two  allied  courts  aim  only  at  the  welfare  of  France,  and  ^o^''^^  medi- 

,  .  ...,.,  ,  ,  tate  no 

have  no  mtention  of  enrichmg  themselves  by  conquests.*!  conquests 

2.  That  they  do  not  propose  to  meddle  in  the  internal  gov- 
ernment of  France,  and  that  they  merely  wish  to  deliver  the  They  purpose 
king,  the  queen,  and  the  royal  family  from  their  captivity,  and  ^  ^""^^  **^^ 

c       1  •     -KT  I~^^     •     ■         -K^   ■  ,  •        French  king 

procure  for  his  Most  Christian  Majesty  the  necessary  security 
to  enable  him,  without  danger  or  hindrance,  to  make  such 
engagements  as  he  shall  see  fit,  and  to  work  for  the  welfare 
of  his  subjects,  according  to  his  pledges. 

3.  That  the  allied  armies  will  protect  the  to^\^ls  and  villages.  Forgiveness 
and  the  persons  and  goods  of  those  who  shall  submit  to  the  ^^^  *^°^^  ^^'^° 

1  •  J       1  1     11         ••  •        1        •  T  •■       i_T  1       cooperate 

king  and  who  shall  cooperate  m  the  immediate  reestablish-  ^^.j^^  the 
ment  of  order  and  the  police  power  throughout  France.        allies 

4.  .  .  .  That,  on  the  contrary,  the  members  of  the  National 
Guard  who  shall  fight  against  the  troops  of  the  two  allied  courts. 


294  Readings  in  Modern  European  History 

Threats         and  who  shall  be  taken  with  arms  in   their  hands,  shall   be 
against  those  treated  as  enemies  and  punished  as  rebels  to  their  king  and  as 

who  oppose       , ,         ,  -    ,  ,  , . 

the  invaders    disturbers  of  the  public  peace.  .  .  . 

7.  That  the  inhabitants  of  the  towns  and  villages  who  may  dare 
to  defend  themselves  against  the  troops  of  their  Imperial  and 
Royal  Majesties  and  fire  on  them,  either  in  the  open  country  or 
through  windows,  doors,  and  openings  in  their  houses,  shall  be 
punished  immediately  according  to  the  most  stringent  laws  of 
war,  and  their  houses  shall  be  burned  or  destroyed.  .  .  . 
Fate  of  Paris       8.  The  city  of  Paris  and  all  its  inhabitants  without  distinc- 
if  it  permits    ^^^^^  ^\i2^  be  required  to  submit  at  once  and  without  delay  to 
comeTo^  °     the  king,  to  place  that  prince  in  full  and  complete  liberty,  and 
harm  to  assure  to  him,  as  well  as  to  the  other  royal  personages,  the 

inviolability  and  respect  which  the  law  of  nature  and  of  nations 
demands  of  subjects  toward  sovereigns.  .  .  .  Their  said  Maj- 
esties declare,  on  their  word  of  honor  as  emperor  and  king, 
that  if  the  chateau  of  the  Tuileries  is  entered  by  force  or 
attacked,  if  the  least  violence  be  offered  to  their  Majesties  the 
king,  queen,  and  royal  family,  and  if  their  safety  and  their  liberty 
be  not  immediately  assured,  they  will  inflict  an  ever  memorable 
vengeance  by  delivering  over  the  city  of  Paris  to  military  execu- 
tion and  complete  destruction,  and  the  rebels  guilty  of  the  said 
outrages  to  the  punishment  that  they  merit.  .   .  . 

Finally,  I  pledge  myself,  in  my  own  name  and  in  my  said 
capacity,  to  cause  the  troops  intrusted  to  my  command  to 
observe  good  and  strict  discipline,  promising  to  treat  with  kind- 
ness and  moderation  all  well-intentioned  subjects  who  show 
themselves  peaceful  and  submissive,  and  to  use  force  only 
against  those  who  shall  be  guilty  of  resistance  and  ill  will. 
It  is  for  these  reasons  that  I  call  upon  and  exhort  in  the 
most  urgent  manner  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  kingdom  not 
to  oppose  the  movements  and  operations  of  the  troops  which 
I  command,  but  rather,  on  the  contrary,  to  grant  them  every- 
where a  free  passage  and  to  assist  and  aid  them  with  all  good 
will  as  circumstances  shall  demand. 

Given  at  the  headquarters  at  Coblenz,  July  25,  1792. 
Charles  William  Ferdinand, 

Duke  of  Brunswick-Luneburg 


The  First  French  Republic  295 

Section  j8.     The  Reign  of  Terror 

Louis  XVI  had  been  suspended  August  10  on  account 
of  the  misgivings  which  his  conduct  inspired.  The  de- 
bate carried  on  six  weeks  later,  during  the  opening 
session  of  the  Convention,  September  21,  1792,  well 
illustrates  the  attitude  of  the  new  Assembly  toward 
the  ancient  monarchy  and  serves  to  introduce  some  of 
the  men  who  were  soon  to  be  most  active  during  the 
Reign  of  Terror. 

The   citizens  chosen  by   the  French    people   to  form   the  133.  The 

National  Convention  having  assembled  to  the  number  of  three  ^^^^^^  ^T'^ 
111  11-  -11  1  ^^S  the  first 

hundred  and  seventy-one,  and  havmg  exammed  the  creden-  session  of  the 

tials  of  the  members,  declare  that  the  National  Convention  Convention 

is  organized.  .  .  . 

M.  Manuel.  Representatives  of  the  sovereign  people  :  the 
task  which  devolves  upon  you  demands  the  power  and  wisdom 
of  gods  themselves.  When  Cineas  entered  the  Roman  senate 
he  thought  he  beheld  an  assembly  of  kings.  Such  a  comparison 
would  be  an  insult  to  you.  Here  we  see  an  assembly  of  phi- 
losophers occupied  in  preparing  the  way  for  the  happiness  of 
the  world.  I  move  that  the  president  of  France  have  his 
residence  in  the  national  palace,  that  the  symbols  of  law  and 
power  be  always  at  his  side,  and  that  every  time  that  he  opens 
a  session  all  the  citizens  shall  rise.  This  act  of  homage  to  the 
sovereignty  of  the  people  will  constantly  recall  to  us  our  rights 
and  duties. 

*M.  Simon.  I  move  that  the  Assembly  declare  that  they  will 
never  deliberate  except  in  the  presence  of  the  people. 

The  President.  Your  motion,  having  no  relation  to  the 
previous  motion,  I  cannot  give  the  floor  to  those  who  wish 
to  support  or  oppose  your  proposition  until  the  Assembly  has 
passed  upon  the  motion  of  Monsieur  Manuel. 

M.  Mathieu.  I  am  doubtful  whether  the  discussion  sug- 
gested by  Monsieur  Manuel  should  take  precedence  in  our  de- 
liberations.   Our  predecessors  lost  much  time  in  determining 


296  Readings  hi  Modern  European  History 

the  exact  dimensions  of  the  chair  of  the  former  king.  We  do 
not  wish  to  commit  the  same  error.  .  .  . 

M.  Chabot.  Representatives  of  the  people  :  I  oppose  the 
motion  made  by  Citizen  Manuel.  I  am  astonished  that  Citizen 
Manuel,  after  having  repudiated  every  idea  of  any  comparison 
with  kings,  should  propose  to  make  one  of  our  members  like  a 
king.  The  French  nation,  by  sending  to  the  Convention  two 
hundred  members  of  the  legislative  body  who  have  individually 
taken  an  oath  to  combat  both  kings  and  royalty,  has  made  itself 
quite  clear  as  to  its  desire  to  establish  a  popular  government. 
It  is  not  only  the  fiafne  of  king  that  it  would  abolish  but  every- 
thing which  suggests  preeminence,  so  that  there  will  be  no 
president  of  France.  You  cannot  look  for  any  other  kind  of 
dignity  than  associating  with  the  sans-culottes  who  compose 
the  majority  of  the  nation.  Only  by  making  yourselves  like 
your  fellow-citizens  will  you  acquire  the  necessary  dignity  to 
cause  your  decrees  to  be  respected.  .  .  . 

M.  Tallien.  I  am  much  astonished  to  hear  this  discussion 
about  ceremonials.  .  .  .  Outside  of  this  hall  the  president  of 
the  Convention  is  a  simple  citizen.  If  you  want  to  speak  to 
him,  you  can  go  and  look  for  him  on  the  third  or  the  fifth 
floor.    There  is  where  virtue  has  its  lodging.  .  .  . 

The  Assembly  unanimously  rejected  the  motion  of  Mon- 
sieur Manuel. 

M.  Tallien.  I  move  that  before  everything  else  the  Assem- 
bly take  a  solemn  pledge  not  to  separate  till  it  has  given  the 
French  people  a  government  established  on  the  foundations 
of  liberty  and  equality.  I  move  that  the  members  take  an  oath 
to  make  no  laws  which  depart  from  this  standard,  and  that  this 
oath  shall  constantly  guide  the  representatives  of  the  people  in 
their  work.  Those  who  shall  perjure  themselves  shall  be  immo- 
lated to  the  just  vengeance  of  the  people.  .  .  .    \^AppIause.'\ 

M.  Merlin.  I  move  that  we  do  not  take  any  oaths.  Let  us 
promise  the  people  to  save  them.    Let  us  go  to  work. 

M.  Couthon.  ...  I  am  not  afraid  that  in  the  discussion 
which  is  about  to  take  place,  any  one  will  dare  to  speak  of 
royalty  again ;  it  is  fit  only  for  slaves,  and  the  French  would 
be  unworthy  of  the  liberty  which  they  have  acquired  should 


The  First  French  Republic  297 

they  dream  of  retaining  a  form  of  government  branded  by 
fourteen  centuries  of  crime.  But  it  is  not  royalty  alone  that 
must  be  eliminated  from  our  constitution,  but  every  kind  of 
individual  power  which  tends  to  restrict  the  rights  of  the 
people  and  violate  the  principles  of  equality.  .  .   . 

M.  Fhilippeaux.  There  is  a  still  more  pressing  subject; 
that  is,  to  furnish  the  organs  of  the  law  the  necessary  power 
to  maintain  public  tranquillity.  I  move  that  you  maintain  pro- 
visionally in  power  all  the  authorities  now  in  existence.  .   .  . 

M.  Ca77ius.  The  most  essential  thing  is  to  order  that  the 
taxes  continue  to  be  collected,  for  you  know  that  they  have  to 
be  voted  at  the  opening  of  every  new  legislature. 

The  motions  of  Messieurs  Philippeaux  and  Camus  were 
unanimously  passed.  .  .   . 

M.  Collot  d'Herbois.  You  have  just  taken  a  wise  resolution, 
but  there  is  one  which  you  cannot  postpone  until  the  morrow, 
or  even  until  this  evening,  or  indeed  for  a  single  instant,  with- 
out being  faithless  to  the  wish  of  the  nation,  —  that  is  the 
abolition  of  royalty.    \^Unanimous  applause. '\ 

M.  Qid7iette.  We  are  not  the  judges  of  royalty ;  that  be- 
longs to  the  people.  Our  business  is  to  make  a  concrete  gov- 
ernment, and  the  people  will  then  choose  between  the  old 
form  where  there  was  royalty  and  that  which  we  shall  submit 
to  them.  .  .  . 

M.  Gregoire.  Assuredly  no  one  of  us  would  ever  propose 
to  retain  in  France  the  fatal  race  of  kings ;  we  all  know  but 
too  well  that  dynasties  have  never  been  anything  else  than 
rapacious  tribes  who  lived  on  nothing  but  human  flesh.  It  is 
necessary  completely  to  reassure  the  friends  of  liberty.  We 
must  destroy  this  talisman,  whose  magic  power  is  still  sufficient 
to  stupefy  many  a  man.  I  move  accordingly  that  you  sanction 
by  a  solemn  law  the  abolition  of  royalty. 

The  entire  Assembly  rose  by  a  spontaneous  movement  and 
passed  the  motion  of  Monsieur  Gregoire  by  acclamation. 

M.  Bazire.  I  rise  to  a  point  of  order.  ...  It  would  be  a 
frightful  example  for  the  people  to  see  an  Assembly  com- 
missioned with  its  dearest  interests  voting  in  a  moment  of 
enthusiasm.    I  move  that  the  question  be  discussed. 


298  Readings  in  Modtrn  European  History 

M.  Gregoire.  Surely  it  is  quite  unnecessary  to  discuss  what 
everybody  agrees  on.  Kings  are  in  the  moral  order  what  mon- 
sters are  in  the  physical.  Courts  are  the  workshops  of  crimes, 
the  lair  of  tyrants.  The  history  of  kings  is  the  martyrology  of 
nations.  Since  we  are  all  convinced  of  the  truth  of  this,  why 
discuss  it?  I  demand  that  my  motion  be  put  to  vote,  and  that 
later  it  be  supplied  with  a  formal  justification  worthy  of  the 
solemnity  of  the  decree. 

M.  Duces,  The  form  of  your  decree  would  be  only  the 
history  of  the  crimes  of  Louis  XVI,  a  history  already  but  too 
well  knowTi  to  the  French  people.  I  demand  that  it  be  drawn 
up  in  the  simplest  terms.  There  is  no  need  of  explanation 
after  the  knowledge  which  has  been  spread  abroad  by  the 
events  of  August  10. 

The  discussion  was  closed.  There  was  a  profound  silence. 
The  motion  of  Monsieur  Gregoire,  put  to  vote,  w^as  adopted 
amidst  the  liveliest  applause  : 

"  The  National  Convention  decrees  that  royalty  is  abolished 
in  France." 

The  Convention,  after  ridding  France  of  the  institu- 
tion of  monarchy,  proposed  to  make  its  armies  a  means 
of  propagating  liberty  and  reform  throughout  Europe. 
It  accordingly  prepared  a  proclamation  to  be  published 
in  those  countries  which  already  were,  or  should  be,  occu- 
pied by  the  armies  of  the  new  French  republic. 

The  French  people  to  the  people  of  ;  brothers  a7id  friends  : 

134.  Procla-  We  have  conquered  our  liberty  and  we  shall  maintain  it. 
mationto  ^y^  ^^^^  ^q  bring  this  inestimable  blessing  to  you,  for  it  has 
whose  always  been  rightly  ours,  and  only  by  a  crime  have  our  oppress- 

tyrants  ors  robbed  us  of  it.  We  have  driven  out  your  tyrants.  Show 
have  been  yourselves  free  men,  and  we  will  protect  you  from  their  venge- 
by  the  ance,  their  machinations,  or  their  return. 

French  From  this  moment  the  French  nation  proclaims  the  sov- 

armies^'^^^  ereignty  of  the  people,  the  suppression  of  all  civil  and  military 
(December  authorities  which  have  hitherto  governed  you  and  of  all  the 
15.  1792)       taxes  which  you  bear,  under  whatever  form  ;  the  abolition  of 


The  First  French  Republic  299 

the  tithe,  of  feudalism,  of  seigniorial  rights  and  monopolies  of 
every  kind,  of  serfdom,  whether  real  or  personal,  of  hunting  and 
tishing  privileges,  of  the  corvee^  the  salt  tax,  the  tolls  and  local 
imposts,  and,  in  general,  of  all  the  various  kinds  of  taxes  with 
which  you  have  been  loaded  by  your  usurpers ;  it  also  pro- 
claims the  abohtion  among  you  of  all  noble  and  ecclesiastical 
corporations  and  of  all  prerogatives  and  privileges  opposed  to 
equality.  You  are,  from  this  moment,  brothers  and  friends ; 
all  are  citizens,  equal  in  rights,  and  all  are  alike  called  to  govern, 
to  serve,  and  to  defend  your  country.^ 

Upon  the  execution  of  Louis  XVI,  his  brother,  the 
count  of  Provence,  formally  announced  to  his  fellow- 
Efnigres  the  tragedy  which  their  conduct  had  done  so 
much  to  consummate. 

Hamm,  Westphalia,  January  28,  1793 
Gentlemen  : 

It  is  with  sentiments  of  the  deepest  grief  that  I  impart  to  135-  The 
you  the  new  loss  which  we  have  just  experienced  in  the  king,  my  p°j""g  °^g 
brother,  whom  the  tyrants,  who  for  so  long  a  time  have  been  announces 
desolating  France,  have  sacrificed  to  their  sacrilegious  rage,  the  death  of 
This  horrible  event  brings  with  it  new  duties  for  me  which  I  ^othe 
propose  to  fulfill.    I  have  taken  the  title  of  regent  of  the  king-  Emigres 
dom,  which  the  right  of  birth  gives  me  during  the  minority  of 
King  Louis  XVII,  my  nephew,  and  I  have  delegated  to  the 
count  of  Artois  that  of  lieutenant  general  of  the  kingdom. 

Your  sentiments  are  too  well  proved  by  your  constancy 
and  the  numerous  sacrifices  that  you  have  made,  in  your 
attachment  to  the  religion  of  your  fathers  and  to  the  sovereign 
whom  we  mourn  to-day,  to  make  it  necessary  to  exhort  you 

1  In  the  decree  of  the  Convention  to  which  the  above  proclamation 
was  appended,  we  find  (Article  11): 

The  French  nation  declares  that  it  will  treat  as  enemies  every  people  who, 
refusing  liberty  and  equality  or  renouncing  them,  may  wish  to  maintain,  recall, 
or  treat  with  the  prince  and  the  privileged  classes  ;  on  the  other  hand,  it  engages 
not  to  subscribe  to  any  treaty  and  not  to  lay  down  its  arms  until  the  sovereignty 
and  independence  of  the  people  whose  territory  the  troops  of  the  republic  shall 
have  entered  shall  be  established,  and  until  the  people  shall  have  adopted  the 
principles  of  equality  and  founded  a  free  and  democratic  government. 


300  Readings  in  Modern  Enropeaii  History 

to  redouble  your  zeal  and  fidelity  toward  our  young  and  unfor- 
tunate monarch  and  your  ardor  in  avenging  the  blood  of  his 
august  father.  We  cannot  fail  to  enjoy  the  support  of  the  sov- 
ereigns who  have  already  so  generously  embraced  our  cause ; 
and  if  it  is  possible  for  us  to  find  any  consolation,  it  lies  in  the 
opportunity  offered  us  to  avenge  our  king,  to  place  his  son  upon 
the  throne,  and  to  restore  to  our  country  that  ancient  constitu- 
tion which  can  alone  serve  as  a  basis  for  its  happiness  and 
glory.  This  is  the  sole  object  of  my  solicitude  and  of  that  of  my 
brother.  Our  titles  have  been  changed,  but  our  union  is  and 
will  always  remain  the  same,  and  we  shall  endeavor  with  more 
ardor  than  ever  to  fulfill  our  duty  towards  God,  our  honor,  the 
king,  and  you. 

Louis  Stanislas  Xavier 

Among  the  terrorists  none  was  more  ardent  and  in- 
defatigable than  Saint-Just,  a  young  fanatic  of  unim- 
peachable probity,  who,  as  member  of  the  Committee 
of  Public  Safety  and  as  agent  of  the  Convention  in  the 
provinces,  urged  on  the  war  against  all  the  enemies  of 
the  Revolution,  whether  within  or  without  France.  He 
was  a  firm  friend  and  admirer  of  Robespierre  and  suf- 
fered death  with  him  on  the  lOth  Thermidor  (July  28, 
1794).  He  left  behind  him  some  unpublished  notes  on 
republican  institutions  written  during  his  last  months, 
when  he  foresaw  that,  among  so  many  opponents  of 
his  exalted  ideas,  he  was  likely  to  lose  his  life.  The 
few  selections  which  are  given  below  serve  to  show 
how  Saint-Just,  Robespierre,  and  their  sympathizers  pro- 
posed to  elaborate  and  carry  out,  at  the  cost  of  no 
matter  how  much  bloodshed,  the  ideas  of  Rousseau, 
whose  ardent  disciples  they  were. 

I  challenge  you  to  establish  liberty  so  long  as  it  remains 
possible  to  arouse  the  unfortunate  classes  against  the  new  order 
of  things,  and  I  defy  you  to  do  away  with  poverty  altogether 


The  First  French  Republic  301 

unless  each  one  has  his  own  land.  .  .  .    Where  you  find  large  136.  Selec- 
landowners  you  find  many  poor  people.    Nothing  can  be  done  *^°°^  ^^°"^ 
in  a  country  where  agriculture  is  carried  on  on  a  large  scale.  uLublican 
Man  was  not  made  for  the  workshop,  the  hospital,  or  the  poor-  institutions 
house.    All  that  is  horrible.    Men  must  live  in  independence,  of  Saint-Jusi 
each  with  his  own  wife  and  his  robust  and  healthy  children. 
We  must  have  neither  rich  nor  poor. 

The  poor  man  is  superior  to  government  and  the  powers  of 
the  world ;  he  should  address  them  as  a  master.  We  must 
have  a  system  which  puts  all  these  principles  in  practice  and 
assures  comfort  to  the  entire  people.  Opulence  is  a  crime  :  it 
consists  in  supporting  fewer  children,  whether  one's  own  or 
adopted,  than  one  has  thousands  of  francs  of  income.   .  .  . 

Children  shall  belong  to  their  mother,  provided  she  has 
suckled  them  herself,  until  they  are  five  years  old ;  after  that 
they  shall  belong  to  the  republic  until  death.  The  mother 
who  does  not  suckle  her  children  ceases  to  be  a  mother  in  the 
eyes  of  the  country.  Child  and  citizen  belong  to  the  country, 
and  a  common  instruction  is  essential.  Children  shall  be 
brought  up  in  the  love  of  silence  and  scorn  for  fine  talkers. 
They  shall  be  trained  in  laconic  speech.  Games  shall  be  pro- 
hibited in  which  they  declaim,  and  they  shall  be  habituated  to 
simple  truth. 

The  boys  shall  be  educated,  from  the  age  of  five  to  sixteen, 
by  the  country ;  from  five  to  ten  they  shall  learn  to  read,  write, 
and  swim.  No  one  shall  strike  or  caress  a  child.  They  shall 
be  taught  what  is  good  and  left  to  nature.  He  who  strikes  a 
child  shall  be  banished.  The  children  shall  eat  together  and 
shall  live  on  roots,  fruit,  vegetables,  milk,  cheese,  bread,  and 
water.  The  teachers  of  children  from  five  to  ten  years  old 
shall  not  be  less  than  sixty  years  of  age.  .  .  .  The  education  of 
children  from  ten  to  sixteen  shall  be  military  and  agricultural. 

Every  man  twenty-one  years  of  age  shall  publicly  state  in 
the  temples  who  are  his  friends.  This  declaration  shall  be 
renewed  each  year  during  the  month  Ventose.  If  a  man 
deserts  his  friend,  he  is  bound  to  explain  his  motives  before 
the  people  in  the  temples ;  if  he  refuses,  he  shall  be  banished. 
Friends  shall  not  put  their  contracts  into  writing,  nor  shall 


302  Readings  in  Modern  European  History 

they  oppose  one  another  at  law.  If  a  man  commits  a  crime, 
his  friends  shall  be  banished.  Friends  shall  dig  the  grave  of  a 
deceased  friend  and  prepare  for  the  obsequies,  and  with  the 
children  of  the  deceased  they  shall  scatter  flowers  on  the  grave. 
He  who  says  that  he  does  not  believe  in  friendship,  or  who 
has  no  friends,  shall  be  banished.  A  man  convicted  of  ingrati- 
tude shall  be  banished. 

The  French  people  recognize  the  existence  of  the  Supreme 
Being  and  the  immortality  of  the  soul.  The  first  day  of  every 
month  is  consecrated  to  the  Eternal.  Incense  shall  burn  day 
and  night  in  the  temples  and  shall  be  tended  in  turn  for 
twenty-four  hours  by  the  men  who  have  reached  the  age  of 
sixty.  The  temples  shall  never  be  closed.  The  French  people 
devote  their  fortunes  and  their  children  to  the  Eternal.  The 
immortal  souls  of  all  those  who  have  died  for  the  fatherland, 
who  have  been  good  citizens,  who  have  cherished  their  father 
and  mother  and  never  abandoned  them,  are  in  the  bosom  of 
the  Eternal. 

The  first  day  of  the  month  Germinal  the  republic  shall 
celebrate  the  festival  of  the  Divinity,  of  Nature,  and  of  the 
People ;  the  first  day  of  the  month  Floreal,  the  festival  of  the 
Divinity,  of  love,  and  of  husband  and  wife,  etc.^ 

Every  year  on  the  first  day  of  Floreal  the  people  of  each  com- 
mune shall  select,  from  among  the  inhabitants  of  the  commune, 
and  in  the  temple,  a  young  man  rich  and  virtuous  and  without 
deformity,  at  least  twenty-one  years  of  age  and  not  over  thirty, 
who  shall  in  turn  select  and  marry  a  poor  maiden,  in  everlast- 
ing memory  of  human  equality. 

1  Robespierre,  in  a  remarkable  report  made  to  the  Convention,  May 
7,  1794,  on  the  relations  of  religious  ideas  to  republican  principles,  ex- 
hibits the  same  confidence  in  festivals.  Among  the  sentiments  which 
he  would  celebrate  are  liberty,  equality,  glory,  immortality,  frugality, 
disinterestedness,  stoicism,  old  age,  and  misfortune  {Histoire  Parle- 
mentaire,  Vol.  XXXII,  pp.  353  sqq.).  See  also  another  similar  report 
submitted  on  February  5,  1794  {Histoire  Parlementaire,  Vol.  XXXI,  pp. 
268  sqq^.  Compare  in  this  connection  an  address  of  Billaud-Varennes 
on  the  theory  of  democratic  government  {Histoi7-e  Parlenientaire,  Vol. 
XXXII,  pp.  335  sqq)  and  Fabre  d'Eglantine's  report  on  the  new  cal- 
endar {Histoire  Parletnentaire,  Vol.  XXXI,  pp.  415  sqq.). 


TJie  First  French  Republic  303 

The  most  amiable  and  humorous  of  the  terrorists 
was  Camille  Desmouhns.  While  he  was  one  of  the  very 
first  to  preach  republican  ideas  and  to  propagate  them 
through  his  writings,  he  had  httle  of  the  relentless  and 
stern  fanaticism  which  blinded  Robespierre  and  Saint- 
Just  to  the  cruelty  of  the  work  in  which  they  were 
engaged.  In  the  autumn  of  1793  Desmouhns,  who  was 
a  journalist  by  profession,  began  to  issue  a  new  news- 
paper, which  he  called  The  Old  Cordelier}  The  charm 
of  his  style,  his  wit  and  learning,  assured  his  editorials 
—  and  his  newspaper  was  really  nothing  more  than  a 
periodical  editorial  —  great  popularity  in  Paris,  and  they 
still  delight  the  historical  student.  In  the  third  issue 
(December  15,  1793)  he  seeks  to  extenuate  the  severities 
of  the  Reign  of  Terror  by  showing,  by  skillfully  adapted 
quotations  from  Tacitus,  that  the  harsh  measures  of  the 
new  French  republic  were  as  nothing  compared  with 
the  atrocities  by  which  the  early  Roman  emperors  estab- 
lished their  sway. 

One  difference  between  monarchy  and  a  republic,  which  137.  Camille 
would  alone  serve  to  make  every  right-hearted  man  reject  men-  l>esmoulms 
archy  with  horror  and  give  preference  to  a  republic,  whatever  extenuate 
it  may  cost  to  establish  it,  is  that  although  the  people  may,  the  Reign  of 
in  a  democracy,  be  misled,  they  always  esteem  virtue  and  try  gyQ^ations 
to  place  only  the  upright  in   office,  while   rogues  constitute  from 
the  very  essence  of  monarchy.    Vice,  pillage,  and  crime  are  Tacitus 
diseases  in  republics,  but   health  itself  is  a  disease  in  mon- 
archies.   Cardinal  Richelieu  admits  this  in  his  Political  Testa- 
ment,^ where  he  makes  it  a  principle  that  the  king  should 
avoid  employing  upright  men.    And  before  him  Sallust  said, 

"^  Desmoulins  had  been  from  the  first  a  very  active  member  of  the 
club  of  the  Cordeliers,  which  had  been  more  radical  and  republican  in 
sentiment  than  the  Jacobins, 

2  See  above,  pp.  i  sqq. 


304  Readings  in  Modern  European  History 

"  Kings  cannot  do  without  scoundrels  and,  on  the  contrary, 
they  must  be  on  their  guard  against  probity."  Only  in  a  re- 
public, then,  can  the  good  citizen  ever  hope  to  see  an  end  to 
the  supremacy  of  intrigue  and  crime,  for  in  order  that  these 
may  disappear  it  is  only  necessary  that  the  people  should  be 
enlightened.  .  .   . 

And  there  is  another  difference  between  monarchy  and  a  re- 
public: the  reigns  of  the  worst  of  emperors  —  Tiberius,  Claud- 
ius, Nero,  Caligula,  Domitian  —  all  had  happy  beginnings. 

It  is  by  reflections  such  as  these  that  the  patriot  should 
first  answer  the  royalist  who  is  laughing  in  his  sleeve  over  the 
present  state  of  France,  as  if  this  violent  and  terrible  condi- 
tion was  to  last.  I  can  hear  you,  my  dear  royalists,  slyly 
making  sport  of  the  founders  of  the  republic  and  comparing 
the  present  with  the  old  days  of  the  Bastile.  You  count  on 
the  frankness  of  my  pen,  and  you  think  that  you  will  follow 
with  pleasure  my  faithful  account  of  the  past  half  year.  But 
I  know  how  to  moderate  your  satisfaction,  and  at  the  same 
time  animate  the  citizens  to  new  courage.  Before  summoning 
my  readers  to  the  Place  de  la  Revolution  and  showing  it 
to  them  flooded  with  the  blood  that  has  flowed  during  the 
past  six  months  for  the  eternal  emancipation  of  a  nation  of 
twenty-five  millions  and  not  yet  cleansed  by  liberty  and  the 
public  welfare,  I  will  begin  by  fixing  the  eyes  of  my  fellow- 
citizens  upon  the  reigns  of  the  Caesars,  —  upon  that  river  of 
blood,  that  sewer  of  corruption  and  filth,  which  flows  per- 
petually under  a  monarchy. 

For  a  long  time,  Tacitus  tells  us,  there  had  been  at  Rome 
a  law  which  defined  the  crimes  of  state  and  of  leze  majesty 
which  were  to  be  punished  with  death.  .  .  .  The  emperors 
had  only  to  add  a  few  articles  to  this  law  in  order  to  involve 
both  individual  citizens  and  entire  cities  in  a  fatal  proscription. 
Augustus  was  the  first  to  extend  this  law  of  leze  majesty  in 
which  he  included  the  writings  which  he  called  counter-revo- 
lutionary. Under  his  successors  the  comprehensiveness  of  the 
law  soon  knew  no  bounds.  When  simple  remarks  had  become 
crimes  of  state,  it  was  only  a  step  to  view  as  criminal  mere 
glances,  sadness,  compassion,  sighs,  —  silence  itself. 


TJie  First  French  Republic  305 

Soon  it  became  a  crime  of  leze  majesty,  or  of  counter-revo- 
lution, for  the  town  of  Nursia  to  raise  a  monument  to  those 
of  its  people  who  had  fallen  at  the  siege  of  Modena,  fighting 
under  Augustus  himself — Augustus  was  at  that  time  in  alli- 
ance with  Brutus,  and  so  Nursia  suffered  the  fate  of  Perugia ; 
a  crime  of  counter-revolution  for  Libo  Drusus  to  have  asked 
the  soothsayers  if  he  would  not  one  day  be  very  rich ;  a  crime 
of  counter-revolution  for  the  journalist,  Cremutius  Cordus,  to 
have  called  Brutus  and  Cassius  the  last  of  the  Romans  ;  a  crime 
of  counter-revolution  for  one  of  the  descendants  of  Cassius  to 
possess  a  portrait  of  his  great-grandfather  ;  a  crime  of  counter- 
revolution for  Mamercus  Scaurus  to  have  composed  a  tragedy 
in  which  was  a  line  that  might  have  two  meanings ;  a  crime  of 
counter-revolution  for  Torquatus  Silanus  to  spend  his  money ; 
a  crime  of  counter-revolution  to  complain  of  the  disasters  of 
the  time,  for  this  was  to  criticise  the  government.  .  .  . 

Everything  offended  the  tyrant.  Was  a  citizen  popular?  He 
was  a  rival  of  the  prince,  who  might  stir  up  civil  war.  Stadia 
civium  in  se  verteret  et  si  imiiti  idem  audeajit,  bellum  esse. 
Suspect.  Did  a  citizen,  on  the  contrary,  avoid  popularity  and 
hug  his  own  fireside?  This  retired  life  caused  you  to  gain  a 
certain  respect.  Qiianto  metii  oecultior,  tanto  famae  adeptiis. 
Suspect.  Were  you  rich?  There  was  danger  that  the  populace 
might  be  corrupted  by  your  largesses.  Aiiri  vim  atque  opes 
Flauti priiicipi  infensas.  Suspect.  Were  you  poor?  Ha,  in- 
vincible emperor  !  that  man  must  be  closely  watched.  No  one 
is  so  enterprising  as  he  who  has  nothing.  Sy/laiJt  inopem^  tmde 
praecipuam  audaciam.    Suspect. 

Were  you  of  a  somber  and  melancholy  temperament,  or 
careless  in  your  dress  ?  You  were  disgusted  that  public  affairs 
were  going  so  w^ll.  Suspect.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  a  citizen 
indulged  himself  in  good  times  and  indigestion,  he  was  but 
rejoicing  that  the  emperor  had  had  an  attack  of  gout,  which 
was  really  nothing.  It  was  necessary  to  let  that  man  know 
that  the  emperor  was  still  in  the  prime  of  life.  Reddendam 
pro  inteinpestiva  liceniia  moestam  et  funebrejn  noctem  qua 
seiitiat  vivei'e  ViteUiurti  et  imperare.  Suspect.  Was  he  virtu- 
ous and  austere  in  his  habits  ?    Good !  a  new  Brutus,  who  durst, 


3o6  Readings  in  Modern  European  History 

by  his  pallid  face  and  Jacobin  peruke,  to  censure  the  curled 
and  giddy  courtier.    Suspect.^ 

Now  the  royalists  need  not  take  the  trouble  to  inform  me 
that  this  description  settles  nothing,  and  that  the  reign  of 
Louis  XVI  resembled  in  no  way  the  sway  of  the  Caesars.  If 
it  did  not  resemble  it,  it  is  because  with  us  despotism  has  long 
been  lulled  in  the  lap  of  its  luxuries  and  has  placed  such  con- 
fidence in  the  strength  of  the  chains  which  our  fathers  have 
borne  for  fifteen  centuries  that  it  deemed  terror  no  longer 
necessary.  .  .  .  But  now  that  the  people  have  awakened  and 
the  sword  of  the  republic  has  been  drawn,  let  royalty  once  more 
set  foot  in  France,  and  then  we  shall  see  that  these  pictures  of 
tyranny  so  well  drawn  by  Tacitus  will  prove  the  living  image 
of  what  we  shall  have  to  suffer  for  half  a  century. 

Indeed,  need  we  seek  examples  at  such  a  distance?  The 
massacres  of  the  Champ  de  Mars  ^  and  at  Nancy ;  the  horrors 
committed  by  the  Austrians  on  the  frontiers,  which  Robespierre 
recounted  to  us  the  other  night  at  the  Jacobin  Club ;  the  con- 
duct of  the  English  at  Genoa,  of  the  royalists  at  Fougeres  and 
in  the  Vendee,  —  the  violence  of  the  factions  alone  shows  well 
enough  that  despotism,  if  allowed  to  reenter  its  demolished 
habitation  in  a  passion,  could  only  establish  itself  again  by 
reigning  as  did  Augustus  and  Nero.  In  this  duel  between 
liberty  and  slavery  and  in  the  cruel  alternative  of  a  defeat  a 
thousand  times  more  bloody  than  our  victory,  it  is  wiser  and 
less  hazardous  to  carry  the  Revolution  too  far  than  to  stop  short 
of  the  goal,  as  Dan  ton  has  said ;  it  has  been  essential,  above 
everything  else,  that  the  republic  should  remain  in  possession 
of  the  field  of  battle. 

In  the  succeeding  number  of  his  newspaper  (issued 
Decadi,  30th  Frimaire,  second  year  of  the  republic,  one 
and  indivisible)  Desmoulins  no  longer  extenuates  the 
work  of  the  guillotine  but  pleads  for  clemency. 

1  As  Michelet  has  pointed  out,  this  is  rather  a  satire  upon  than  a 
justification  of  the  Reign  of  Terror. 

2  See  above,  pp.  280  sqq. 


TJie  First  French  Republic  307 

Some  persons  have  expressed  their  disapproval  of  my  third  138.  Ca- 

issue,  where,  as  they  allege,  I  have  been  pleased  to  suggest  cer-  "^^^®  ^®^" 

t  •   ,  1  .  c  1  ,     T   ,  ,       moulins 

tarn  comparisons  which  tend  to  cast  an  unfavorable  light  on  the  makes  a 

Revolution  and  the  patriots,  —  they  should  say  the  excess  of  plea  for 

revolution  and  the  professional  patriots.    My  critics  think  the  ^J^™®°cy 

whole  number  refuted  and  everybody  justified  by  the  single  20,  1793) 

reflection,  "  We  all  know  that  the  present  situation  is  not  one  of 

freedom,  —  but  patience  !  you  will  be  free  one  of  these  days." 

Such  people  think  apparently  that  liberty,  like  infancy,  must 
of  necessity  pass  through  a  stage  of  wailing  and  tears  before 
it  reaches  maturity.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  of  the  nature  of 
liberty  that,  in  order  to  enjoy  it,  we  need  only  desire  it.  A 
people  is  free  the  moment  that  it  wishes  to  be  so, — you 
will  recollect  that  this  was  one  of  Lafayette's  sayings,  —  and 
the  people  has  entered  upon  its  full  rights  since  the  14th  of 
July.  Liberty  has  neither  infancy  nor  old  age,  but  is  always  in 
the  prime  of  strength  and  vigor.  .  .  . 

Is  this  liberty  that  we  desire  a  mere  empty  name?  Is  it  only 
an  opera  actress  carried  about  with  a  red  cap  on,  or  even  that 
statue,  forty-six  feet  high,  which  David  proposes  to  make?  If 
by  liberty  you  do  not  understand,  as  I  do,  great  principles, 
but  only  a  bit  of  stone,  there  never  was  idolatry  more  stupid 
and  expensive  than  ours.  Oh,  my  dear  fellow-citizens,  have  we 
sunk  so  low  as  to  prostrate  ourselves  before  such  divinities? 
No,  heaven-born  liberty  is  no  nymph  of  the  opera,  nor  a  red 
liberty  cap,  nor  a  dirty  shirt  and  rags.  Liberty  is  happiness, 
reason,  equality,  justice,  the  Declaration  of  Rights,  your  sub- 
lime constitution. 

Would  you  have  me  recognize  this  liberty,  have  me  fall  at 
her  feet,  and  shed  all  my  blood  for  her  ?  Then  open  the  prison 
doors  to  the  two  hundred  thousand  citizens  whom  you  call  sus- 
pects, for  in  the  Declaration  of  Rights  no  prisons  for  suspicion 
are  provided  for,  only  places  of  detention.  Suspicion  has  no 
prison,  but  only  the  public  accuser  ;  there  are  no  suspects,  but 
only  those  accused  of  offenses  established  by  law. 

Do  not  think  that  such  a  measure  would  be  fatal  to  the 
republic.  It  would,  on  the  contrary,  be  the  most  revolution- 
ary that  you  have  adopted.   You  would  exterminate  all  your 


308  Readings  in  Modern  Europeait  History 

enemies  by  the  guillotine  !  But  was  there  ever  greater  mad- 
ness? Can  you  possibly  destroy  one  enemy  on  the  scaffold  with- 
out making  ten  others  among  his  family  and  friends?  Do  you 
believe  that  those  whom  you  have  imprisoned  —  these  women 
and  old  men,  these  self-indulgent  valetudinarians,  these  strag- 
glers of  the  Revolution  —  are  really  dangerous  ?  Only  those 
among  your  enemies  have  remained  among  you  who  are  cow- 
ardly or  sick.  The  strong  and  courageous  have  emigrated. 
They  have  perished  at  Lyons  or  in  the  Vendee.  The  remnant 
which  still  lingers  does  not  deserve  your  anger.   .  .  . 

Moreover  it  has  not  been  love  of  the  republic,  but  curiosity, 
which  has  every  day  attracted  multitudes  to  the  Place  de  la 
Revolution ;  it  was  the  new  drama  which  was  to  be  enacted 
but  once.  I  am  sure  that  the  majority  of  those  who  frequented 
this  spectacle  felt  a  deep  contempt  in  their  hearts  for  those 
who  subscribed  for  the  theater  or  opera,  where  they  could  only 
see  pasteboard  daggers  and  comedians  who  merely  pretended 
to  die.  According  to  Tacitus,  a  similar  insensibility  prevailed 
in  Rome,  a  similar  feeling  of  security  and  indifference  to  all 
issues.  .   .   . 

I  am  of  a  very  different  opinion  from  those  who  claim  that 
it  is  necessary  to  leave  Terror  on  the  order  of  the  day.  I  am 
confident,  on  the  contrary,  that  liberty  will  be  assured  and 
Europe  conquered  so  soon  as  you  have  a  Committee  of 
Clemency.  This  committee  will  complete  the  Revolution,  for 
clemency  is  itself  a  Revolutionary  measure,  the  most  effi- 
cient of  all  when  it  is  wisely  dealt  out.^ 

1  In  spite  of  Desmoulins's  eloquent  and  wise  plea  for  clemency,  his 
friend  Robespierre  refused  to  support  him,  and  he  was  brought  to  the 
scaffold,  along  with  Danton,  by  the  party  which  held  that  moderation 
was  synonymous  with  treason  to  the  cause  of  republican  liberty. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

NAPOLEON  BONAPARTE 

Section  jg.    Bonaparte  s  First  Italian  Campaign 

When  nine  years  old  Napoleon  Bonaparte  and  his 
brother  Joseph  accompanied  their  father  to  France, 
where  the  boys  were  to  go  to  school  and  learn  French. 
One  of  their  teachers  in  Autun  thus  writes  of  them  : 

Napoleon  brought  with  him  to  Autun  a  somber  and  pensive  139.  How- 
character.    He  never  played  with  any  one  and  ordinarily  walked  Napoleon 
by  himself.  .  .  .    He  had  much  ability  ;  understood  and  learned  brother 
readily.    When  I  was  teaching  him  his  lesson  he  would  fix  his  Joseph 
eyes  upon  me  with  his  mouth  open.    If  I  tried  to  recapitulate  p^"^\ 
what  I  had  just  said,  he  would  not  listen  to  me.    If  I  blamed 
him  for  this,  he  would  reply  with  a  cold,  not  to  say  imperious, 
air,  "  I  know  that,  sir." 

I  only  had  him  under  me  for  three  months.  .  .  .  He  had 
by  that  time  learned  French  so  as  to  make  use  of  it  freely 
in  conversation,  and  could  write  little  themes  and  make  little 
translations.  ...  At  the  end  of  three  months  I  sent  him  off 
with  a  certain  Monsieur  de  Champeaux  to  the  military  school 
at  Brienne. 

Joseph  also  had  much  ability  :  although  he  took  but  little  Joseph's 
interest  in  study,  and  knew  no  French  at  all  when  he  arrived,  <^^^''^^*^'' 
he  learned  it  very  promptly,  as  well  as  the  beginnings  of 
Latin.  .  .  .  He  was  as  decent  and  agreeable  in  his  manner 
as  his  brother  was  imperious.  His  nature  was  sweet,  engaging, 
and  appreciative.  He  was  fond  of  his  companions  and  pro- 
tected those  whom  others  annoyed.  I  never  saw  in  him  the 
least  indications  of  ambition. 

309 


3IO  Readings  in  Modern  Eitropean  History 

Napoleon  early  developed  the  ability  to  judge  men 
and  assign  them  to  their  appropriate  spheres.  Before  he 
left  Brienne  his  father  visited  him,  bringing  his  younger 
brother  Lucien,  together  with  the  news  that  his  brother 
Joseph  was  planning  to  give  up  the  clerical  career  he  had 
chosen  and  become  a  soldier.  Although  not  yet  fifteen 
years  old,  Napoleon  writes  of  the  matter  to  his  uncle  as 
follows  : 

My  dear  Uncle : 

140.  Napo-         I  am  writing  to  inform  you  that  my  dear  father  has  just 

Icon's  early   passed   through  Brienne  on  his  way  to  place  Marianne  [i.e. 

character       Napoleon's  sister,  filise]  in  the  convent  at  St.  Cyr,  after  which 

he  will  take  measures  to  regain  his  health.    He  arrived  here  on 

the  2 1  St  instant  with  Lucien.    The  latter  he  left  here.    He  is 

nine  years  old  and  three  feet  eleven  inches  and  six  lines  tall. 

He  is  in  the  sixth  form  so  far  as  his  Latin  goes,  and  he  is  about 

to  take  up  the  various  other  branches. 

He  knows  French  very  well,  but  he  has  forgotten  Italian 
altogether.  I  hope  that  he  will  now  write  you  more  frequently 
than  when  he  was  at  Autun.  I  am  convinced  that  my  brother 
Joseph  has  not  written  to  you  ;  and  how  could  you  expect  him 
to  when  he  only  writes  a  few  lines  to  my  dear  father,  when  he 
writes  at  all? 

As  to  the  career  which  he  proposes  to  embrace,  the  eccle- 
siastical was,  as  you  know,  the  first  that  he  chose.  He  per- 
sisted in  that  resolution  until  now,  when  he  proposes  to  go  into 
the  king's  service.    He  is  wrong  in  this  for  several  reasons. 

First,  as  my  dear  father  observes,  he  has  not  the  courage 
necessary  to  face  the  dangers  of  an  action,  and  his  feeble 
health  would  not  permit  him  to  bear  the  fatigues  of  a  cam- 
paign. My  brother  only  looks  at  military  life  from  the  stand- 
point of  a  garrison.  Yes,  my  dear  brother  would  be  a  good 
garrison  officer  ;  he  is  well  made  and  has  that  light  spirit  which 
adapts  him  to  frivolous  compliments.  He  would  always  shine 
in  society,  but  in  battle  —  that  is  what  my  father  is  doubtful 
about.  .  .  . 


Napoleon  Bonaparte  3 1 1 

Second,  he  has  been  educated  for  the  ecclesiastical  estate, 
and  it  is  much  too  late  to  give  this  up.  The  bishop  of  Autun 
would  have  given  him  a  fine  benefice,  and  he  would  have  been 
sure  to  have  become  bishop.  What  an  advantage  for  his 
family  !  The  bishop  has  done  all  he  could  to  induce  him  to 
persist  in  his  original  purpose,  promising  him  that  he  would 
not  be  sorry.  However,  he  has  made  up  his  mind.  I  would 
praise  him  if  only  he  had  a  decided  taste  for  this  profession, 
which  is  the  finest  of  all  professions.  If  only  the  great  Director 
of  human  affairs,  in  forming  him,  had  given  him,  as  he  has  me, 
a  decided  inclination  for  military  life  ! 

He  wants  to  go  into  the  army ;  that  is  well  enough,  but  in 
what  department?  The  marine?  But,  in  the  first  place,  he 
knows  no  mathematics,  and  it  will  take  him  two  years  to  master 
the  subject.  In  the  second  place,  his  health  is  incompatible 
with  a  life  on  the  sea. 

Shall  it  be  the  engineers'  division?  He  would  require  four 
or  five  years  to  learn  what  is  necessary,  and  at  the  end  of  that 
time  he  would  only  be  a  beginner.  Moreover  I  believe  that 
the  necessity  of  working  all  day  is  not  compatible  with  the 
lightness  of  his  character.  The  same  reason  which  holds  for 
the  engineers  holds  for  the  artillery.  .  .  .  That  certainly  is 
not  to  his  taste. 

Let  us  see,  then.  Doubtless  he  would  like  to  go  into  the 
infantry.  Good ;  I  can  comprehend  that.  He  would  like  to 
have  nothing  to  do  all  day  except  to  walk  about  the  streets. 
And  what  is  a  little  infantry  officer  anyway  —  except  a  hard 
case  three  fourths  of  the  time?  This  is  just  what  my  dear 
father,  and  you,  and  my  mother,  and  my  uncle  the  arch- 
deacon would  not  wish,  for  he  has  already  shown  some  little 
indications  of  light-headedness  and  prodigality. 

Consequently  a  last  effort  will  be  made  to  induce  him  to 
pursue  a  clerical  career.  Otherwise  my  dear  father  will  carry 
him  back  to  Corsica  with  him,  so  that  he  may  keep  an  eye  on 
him,  and  they  will  try  to  have  him  enter  the  law. 

I  close  with  the  hope  that  you  will  continue  to  retain  me  in 
your  good  graces  :  to  render  myself  worthy  of  them  will  be  my 
most  cherished  ambition.    I  am,  with  most  profound  respect, 


312  Readings  m  Modern  Europemi  History 

my  dear  uncle,  your  very  humble  and  very  obedient  servant 
and  nephew, 

Napoleone  di  Buonaparte 
P.S.    Destroy  this  letter. 

A  writer,  Las  Cases,  who  accompanied  Napoleon  to 
St.  Helena,  gathered  the  following  information  from  the 
exiled  emperor  in  regard  to  the  circumstances  of  his 
first  campaign. 

During  the  period  of  his  command  at  Paris  subsequent  to 
the  1 8th  Vendemiaire,  Napoleon  had  to  deal  with  a  great  dearth 
of  food,  which  occasioned  several  popular  commotions.  One 
day,  when  the  usual  distribution  of  bread  had  not  taken  place, 
crowds  of  people  collected  around  the  bakers'  shops.  Napo- 
leon was  patrolling  the  city  with  a  party  of  his  staff  to  preserve 
public  order.  A  crowd  of  persons,  chiefly  women,  assembled 
around  him,  loudly  calling  for  bread.  The  crowd  grew,  the  out- 
cries increased,  and  the  situation  of  Napoleon  and  his  officers 
became  critical.  A  woman  of  monstrously  robust  appearance 
was  particularly  conspicuous  by  her  gestures  and  exclamations. 
"Those  fine  epauleted  fellows,"  said  she,  pointing  to  the  officers, 
"  laugh  at  our  distress ;  so  long  as  they  can  eat  and  grow  fat, 
they  do  not  care  if  the  poor  people  die  of  hunger."  Napoleon 
turned  to  her  and  said,  ''  My  good  woman,  look  at  me ;  which 
is  the  fatter,  you  or  I?  "  Napoleon  was  at  that  time  extremely 
thin.  "  I  was  merely  a  slip  of  parchment,"  said  he.  A  general 
burst  of  laughter  disarmed  the  fury  of  the  populace,  and  the 
staff  officers  continued  their  round. 

Napoleon's  memoirs  of  the  campaign  in  Italy  show  how  he 
became  acquainted  with  Madame  de  Beauharnais,  and  how  he 
contracted  the  marriage  which  has  been  so  greatly  misrepre- 
sented in  the  accounts  of  the  time.  As  soon  as  he  got  himself 
introduced  to  Madame  de  Beauharnais  he  spent  almost  every 
evening  at  her  house,  which  was  frequented  by  the  most  agree- 
able company  in  Paris.  When  the  majority  of  the  party  retired, 
there  usually  remained  Monsieur  de  Montesquiou,  the  father 
of  the  grand  chamberlain,  the  duke  of  Nivernais,  so  celebrated 


Napoleo7i  Bonapa7'te  3 1 3 

for  the  graces  of  his  wit,  and  a  few  others.    They  used  to  look  Bonaparte 
around  to  see  that  the  doors  were  all  shut,  and  then  they  would  ^^.^'^  ^"  ^°^'® 
say,  "  Now  let  us  sit  down  and  chat  about  the  old  court ;  let  former 
us  revisit  Versailles  once  more."  aristocracy 

The  poverty  of  the  treasury  and  the  scarcity  of  specie  were 
so  great  during  the  republic  that  on  the  departure  of  General 
Bonaparte  to  join  the  army  of  Italy  all  his  efforts,  and  those 
of  the  Directory,  only  resulted  in  raising  two  thousand  louis, 
which  he  carried  with  him  in  his  carriage.  With  this  sum  he 
set  out  to  conquer  Italy,  and  to  advance  toward  the  empire 
of  the  world.  The  following  is  a  curious  fact.  An  order  of  the 
day  was  issued,  signed  by  Berthier,  directing  the  general  in  chief, 
on  his  arrival  at  the  headquarters  at  Nice,  to  distribute  to  the 
different  generals  the  sum  of  four  louis  in  specie  to  enable  them 
to  enter  on  the  campaign.  For  a  considerable  time  no  such 
thing  as  specie  had  been  seen.  This  order  of  the  day  displays 
the  circumstances  of  the  time  more  truly  and  faithfully  than 
whole  volumes  written  on  the  subject. 

As  soon  as  Napoleon  joined  the  army  he  proved  himself  to 
be  a  man  born  to  command.  From  that  moment  he  filled  the 
theater  of  the  world ;  he  occupied  all  Europe  ;  he  was  a  meteor 
blazing  in  the  firmament ;  he  centered  all  eyes  on  himself,  riv- 
eted all  thoughts,  and  formed  the  subject  of  all  conversation. 
From  that  time  every  gazette,  every  publication,  every  monu- 
ment became  the  record  of  his  deeds.  His  name  was  inscribed 
on  every  page  and  in  every  line,  and  echoed  from  every  mouth. 

His  entrance  upon  the  command  produced  a  revolution  in  Bonaparte 
his  manners,  conduct,  and  language.    Decres  has  often  told  alters  his 
me  that  he  was  at  Toulon  when  he  first  heard  of  Napoleon's  manner 
appointment  to  the  command  of  the  army  of  Italy.    He  had 
known  him  well  in  Paris  and  thought  himself  on  terms  of  per- 
fect intimacy  with  him.     "So,"  said  he,  "when  we  learned 
that  the  new  general  was  about  to  pass  through  the  city,  I  im- 
mediately proposed  to  introduce  my  comrades  to  him,  and  to 
turn  my  former  connection  with  him  to  the  best  account.    I 
hastened  to  meet  him  full  of  eagerness  and  joy.    The  door 
of  the  apartment  was  thrown  open,  and  I  was  on  the  point 
of  rushing  toward   him  with   my  wonted  familiarity;   but  his 


314  Readings  in  Modern  European  History 

attitude,  his  look,  the  tone  of  his  voice  suddenly  deterred  me. 
There  was  nothing  offensive  either  in  his  appearance  or  man- 
ner, but  the  impression  he  produced  was  sufficient  to  prevent 
me  from  ever  again  attempting  to  encroach  upon  the  distance 
that  separated  us." 
Bonaparte's  Napoleon's  generalship  was  characterized  by  the  skill,  en- 

freedom  from   ergy,  and  purity  of  his  military  administration ;  his  constant 
^  ^  dislike  of  peculation  of  any  kind,  and  his  total  disregard  of  his 

own  private  interest.  ''  I  returned  from  the  campaign  in  Italy," 
said  he,  "  with  but  three  hundred  thousand  francs  in  my  pos- 
session. I  might  easily  have  carried  off  ten  or  twelve  millions 
and  have  kept  it  for  my  own.  I  never  made  out  any  accounts, 
nor  was  I  ever  asked  for  any.  I  expected,  on  my  return,  to 
receive  some  great  national  reward.  It  was  publicly  reported 
that  Chambord  was  to  be  given  to  me,  and  I  should  have  been 
very  glad  to  have  had  the  chateau ;  but  the  idea  was  set  aside 
by  the  Directory.  I  had,  however,  sent  back  to  France  at  least 
fifty  millions  for  the  service  of  the  state.  This,  I  imagine,  was 
the  first  instance  in  modern  history  of  an  army  contributing  to 
maintain  the  country  to  which  it  belonged,  instead  of  being  a 
burden  to  it." 

The  young  and  rather  inexperienced  General  Bona- 
parte had  to  lead  his  ill-equipped  troops  against  the 
combined  armies  of  Austria  and  the  king  of  Sardinia. 
His  success  was,  nevertheless,  immediate  ;  and  after  the 
opening  victories  in  the  mountains  separating  France 
from  Piedmont,  he  found  himself  in  a  position  to  cheer 
his  troops  by  the  following  proclamation  : 

.  Headquarters  at  Cherasco 
7th  Floreal,  Year  IV  [April  26,  1796] 
Soldiers : 

You  have  in  a  fortnight  won  six  victories,  taken  twenty-one 
standards,  fifty-five  pieces  of  artillery,  several  strong  places, 
and  conquered  the  richest  part  of  Piedmont ;  you  have  made 
fifteen  thousand  prisoners  and  killed  or  wounded  more  than 
ten  thousand  men.    Previously  you  had  fought  for  sterile  crags, 


Napoleo7i  Bojiaparte  3 1 5 

which,  although  you  made  them  famous  by  your  prowess,  were  142.  Bona- 
useless  to  your  country ;   to-day  your  services  put  you  on  a  Porte's  proc- 
footing  with  the  army  of  Holland  or  of  the  Rhine.  his  soldiers 

Without  any  resources  you  have  supplied  all  that  was  neces-  on  their 
sary.  You  have  won  battles  without  cannons,  passed  rivers  j^Jy^  "^ 
without  bridges,  made  forced  marches  without  shoes,  camped 
without  brandy  and  often  without  bread.  Only  republican 
phalanxes,  soldiers  of  liberty,  would  have  been  able  to  bear 
what  you  have  born.  Thanks  be  to  you,  soldiers,  for  this. 
Your  grateful  country  will  owe  its  prosperity  to  you.  As  con- 
querors at  Toulon  you  but  foreshadowed  the  immortal  campaign 
of  1794 ;  even  so  your  present  victories  are  but  harbingers  of 
still  greater. 

The  two  armies  which  but  recently  attacked  you  with  con- 
fidence are  fleeing  in  consternation  before  you.  Those  mis- 
guided men  who  laughed  at  your  misery  and  rejoiced  in  the 
thought  of  the  triumph  of  your  enemies  have  been  confounded. 

But,  soldiers,  you  have  done  nothing  as  yet  compared  with 
what  there  still  remains  to  do.  Neither  Turin  nor  Milan  yet 
belongs  to  you.  .  .  .  You  were  destitute  of  everything  at  the 
opening  of  the  campaign  ;  to-day  you  are  provided  abundantly. 
Numerous  stores  have  been  taken  from  your  enemies  and  siege 
and  field  guns  have  arrived. 

Soldiers,  your  country  is  justified  in  expecting  great  things 
of  you.  Will  you  fulfill  its  hopes?  The  greatest  obstacles  un- 
doubtedly have  been  overcome,  but  you  have  still  battles  to 
fight,  cities  to  take,  rivers  to  cross.  Is  there  any  one  among 
you  whose  courage  is  slackening?  Is  there  any  one  who  would 
prefer  to  return  across  the  summits  of  the  Apennines  and  the 
Alps  and  bear  patiently  the  insults  of  a  slavish  soldiery?  No, 
there  is  none  such  among  the  conquerors  of  Montenotte,  of 
Dego,  of  Mondovi.  All  of  you  are  burning  to  extend  the  glory 
of  the  French  people.  All  long  to  humiliate  those  haughty 
kings  who  dare  to  contemplate  placing  us  in  fetters.  All  desire 
to  dictate  a  glorious  peace  and  one  which  will  indemnify  our 
country  for  the  immense  sacrifices  which  it  has  made  ;  all  would 
wish,  as  they  return  to  their  native  villages,  to  be  able  to  say 
proudly,  "  I  was  with  the  victorious  army  of  Italy !  " 


3i6 


Readings  in  Modern  European  History 


Stern  prohi- 
bition of 
pillage 


143.  How 
Bonaparte 
was  led  to 
sign  the 
Treaty  of 
Campo- 
Formio 


Friends,  I  can  promise  you  this  conquest,  but  there  is  one 
condition  which  you  must  swear  to  fulfill.  That  is  to  respect 
the  peoples  whom  you  deliver,  and  repress  the  horrible  pillage 
which  certain  rascals,  incited  by  our  enemies,  commit.  Other- 
wise, you  will  not  be  the  deliverers  of  the  people  but  their 
scourge ;  you  will  not  do  honor  to  the  French  people,  but  will 
thereby  disavow  your  country.  Your  victories,  your  bravery, 
your  success,  the  blood  of  our  brothers  who  have  died  in  battle, 
—  all  will  be  lost,  even  honor  and  glory.  As  for  me  and  the 
generals  who  have  your  confidence,  we  should  blush  to  com- 
mand an  army  without  discipline  and  restraint,  which  recognizes 
ho  law  but  force.  .  .  .  Any  one  who  engages  in  pillage  will  be 
shot  without  mercy. 

Peoples  of  Italy,  the  French  army  comes  to  break  your 
chains;  the  French  people  is  the  friend  of  all  peoples.  You 
may  receive  them  with  confidence.  Your  property,  your  reli- 
gion, and  your  customs  will  be  respected.  We  are  carrying 
on  war  as  generous  enemies,  and  we  have  no  grudge  except 
against  the  tyrants  who  oppress  you. 

Bourrienne,  one  of  Napoleon's  early  companions  and 
later  his  secretary,  gives  us  an  account  in  his  memoirs 
of  the  motives  which  led  General  Bonaparte  to  sign  the 
Treaty  of  Campo-Formio. 

The  early  appearance  of  bad  weather  hastened  Napoleon's 
determination.  On  the  13th  of  October,  at  daybreak,  on  open- 
ing my  window  I  perceived  the  mountains  covered  with  snow. 
The  previous  night  had  been  superb,  and  the  autumn,  till  then, 
had  promised  to  be  fine  and  late.  I  proceeded,  as  I  always 
did  at  seven  o'clock  in  the  morning,  to  the  general's  chamber. 
I  awoke  him  and  told  him  what  I  had  seen.  He  feigned  at 
first  to  disbelieve  me,  then  leaped  from  his  bed,  ran  to  the 
window,  and,  convinced  of  the  sudden  change,  he  calmly  said, 
"  What !  before  the  middle  of  October?  What  a  country  !  Well, 
we  must  make  peace."  While  he  hastily  put  on  his  clothes  I 
read  the  journals  to  him,  as  is  my  daily  custom.  He  paid  but 
little  attention  to  them. 


Napoleo7i  Bo7iaparte  317 

Shutting  himself  up  with  me  in  his  closet,  he  reviewed  with 
the  greatest  care  all  the  returns  from  the  different  corps  of  his 
army.  "Here  are,"  said  he,  "nearly  eighty  thousand  effective 
men.  I  feed,  I  pay  them ;  but  I  can  bring  but  sixty  thousand 
into  the  field  on  the  day  of  battle.  I  shall  gain  it,  but  after- 
wards my  force  will  be  reduced  by  twenty  thousand  men, — 
by  killed,  wounded,  and  prisoners.  How,  then,  shall  I  oppose 
all  the  Austrian  forces  that  will  march  to  the  protection  of 
Vienna?  It  would  be  a  month  before  the  armies  could  support 
me,  if  they  should  be  able  to  do  it  at  all ;  and  in  a  fortnight 
all  the  roads  and  passes  will  be  covered  deep  with  snow.  It  is 
settled  —  I  will  make  peace.  Venice  shall  pay  for  the  expense 
of  the  war  and  the  boundary  of  the  Rhine  ;  let  the  Directory 
and  the  lawyers  say  what  they  like." 

He  wrote  to  the  Directory  in  the  following  words  :  "The  sum- 
mits of  the  hills  are  covered  with  snow;  I  cannot,  on  account 
of  the  stipulations  agreed  to  in  regard  to  the  recommencement 
of  hostilities,  open  them  again  for  twenty-five  days,  and  by  that 
time  we  shall  be  overwhelmed  with  snow." 

...  It  is  well  known  that  by  the  Treaty  of  Campo-Formio  Provisions 
the  two  belligerent  powers  made  peace  at  the  expense  of  the  °^  *^^  Treaty 
republic  of  Venice,  which  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  quarrel  Formio^° 
in  the  first  instance,  and  which  only  interfered  at  a  late  period, 
probably  against  her  own  inclination,  and  impelled  by  the  force 
of  inevitable  circumstances.    But  what  has  been  the  result  of 
this   great   political   spoliation?     A  portion   of  the  Venetian 
territory  was  adjudged  to  the  Cisalpine  republic ;    it  is  now  Destruction 
in  the  possession  of  Austria.    Another   considerable  portion,  of  the 
including  the  capital  itself,  fell  to  the  lot  of  Austria,  in  com-  republic 
pensation  for  the  Belgian  provinces  and  Lombardy,  which  she 
ceded  to  France. 

.  .  .  The  Directory  was  far  from  being  satisfied  with  the  Bonaparte 
Treaty  of  Campo-Formio,  and  with  difficulty  resisted  the  temp-  J^^nsTruc 
tation  not  to  ratify  it.    A  fortnight  before  the  signature  of  the  tions  of  the 
treaty   the   directors  wrote   to   General   Bonaparte  that  they  Directory 
would  not  consent  to  give  the  emperor  Venice,  Friuli,  Padua, 
and  the  Venetian  terra  firma^  with  the  Adige  as  a  boundary. 
"That,"   they  said,   "would   not  be  to  make   peace,  but   to 


3^8  Readings  in  Modern  European  History 

postpone  the  war.  We  shall  be  regarded  as  the  beaten  party, 
independently  of  the  disgrace  of  abandoning  Venice,  which 
Bonaparte  himself  thought  so  worthy  of  freedom.  France 
ought  not,  and  never  will  wish,  to  see  Italy  delivered  up  to 
Austria."  ...  All  this  was,  however,  said  in  vain.  Bonaparte 
made  no  scruple  of  disregarding  his  instructions. 

Section  40.    How  Napoleoji  made  himself  Master 
of  Frafice 

After  the  first  disasters  in  Egypt,  Bonaparte  thus  en- 
couraged his  troops  : 

Headquarters,  Cairo,  ist  Vendemiaire,  Year  VII 

Soldiers : 

144.  Bona-  We  are  celebrating  the  first  day  of  the  seventh  year  of  the 

parte's  proc-   republic.    Five   years  ago  the   independence  of   the   French 
lamation  to  ^    ,  ,  i    ?  i    rr^      1  1  •  1 

his  Egyptian  people  was  threatened,  but  you  took  1  oulon ;   this  was  a  har- 

army  (Sep-     binger  of  the  ruin  of  our  enemies.    A  year  later  you  defeated 

nS)^'^  ^^'       ^^  Austrians  at  Dego ;   the  following  year  you  were  on  the 

summit  of   the   Alps.    Two  years  ago  you  were  fighting  for 

Mantua,  and  you  gained  the  famous  victory  of  St.  George. 

Last  year  you  were  at  the  sources  of  the  Drave  and  the  Isonzo, 

and  had  returned  from  Germany.  Who  would  have  said,  then, 

that  you  would  to-day  be  upon  the  banks  of  the  Nile  in  the 

midst  of  an  ancient  continent?    The  eyes  of  the  world  are 

centered  upon  you,  from  those  of  the  English,  famed  in  arts 

and  trade,  to  the  wild  and  hideous  Bedouin. 

Soldiers,  your  destiny  is  a  glorious  one,  because  you  are 

worthy  of  all  that  you  have  accomplished  and  of  the  fame 

which  you  enjoy.    You  will  die  with  honor  like  the  brave  men 

whose   names  are  inscribed  upon   this  pyramid,^  or  you  will 

return  to  your  country  covered  with  laurels  and  a  source  of 

wonder  to  all. 

During  the  five  months  which  we  have  been  absent  from 

Europe  we  have  been  the  object  of  constant  solicitude  on  the 

1  A  wooden  pyramid  on  which  were  inscribed  the  names  of  the  offi- 
cers and  soldiers  who  had  already  fallen  in  Egypt. 


Napoleon  Bonaparte  3 1 9 

part  of  our  compatriots.  To-day  forty  millions  of  citizens  cele- 
brate the  advent  of  representative  government ;  these  forty  mil- 
lions are  thinking  of  you,  and  are  saying,  ''  It  is  to  their  labors 
and  to  their  blood  that  we  shall  owe  a  general  peace,  tranquillity, 
flourishing  commerce,  and  the  advantages  of  civil  liberty." 

One  of  Bonaparte's  companions  in  Egypt  reports  the 
following  conference  between  the  general  and  the  muftis, 
or  expounders  of  the  Mohammedan  laws. 

Whilst  at   Cairo,   Bonaparte,  on  a  visit  to  the   pyramids,  145-  Bona- 
seated   himself  on  the   Soros  and   held   a  long  conversation  P*^®  "J" 
wath  the  muftis.    "  Glory  to  Allah  !  "  said  he ;    "  there  is  no  Moham- 
other  God  but  God.    Mohammed  is  his  prophet  and  I  am  his  medans  that 
friend.    Muftis  !  the  divine  Koran  is  the  delight  of  my  soul  fj-^gj^^ 
and  the  object  of  my  contemplation.    I  love  the  Prophet,  and 
I  hope  erelong  to  see  and  honor  his  tomb  in  the  Holy  City. 

"  But  my  mission  is  first  to  exterminate  the  Mamelukes. 
If  Egypt  be  their  portion,  let  them  show  me  the  lease  that 
God  has  given  them.  But  the  angel  of  death  has  breathed 
upon  them  :  we  are  come  and  they  have  disappeared.  The 
days  of  regeneration  are  come.  He  that  hath  ears,  let  him 
hear.  The  hour  of  political  resurrection  has  struck  for  all  w^ho 
groan  under  oppression.  Muftis,  imams,  mollahs,  dervishes, 
and  kalenders  :  instruct  the  people  of  Egypt ;  encourage  them 
to  join  in  our  labors  to  complete  the  destruction  of  the  Beys 
and  the  Mamelukes.  Favor  the  commerce  of  the  Franks  in 
your  country  and  their  endeavors  to  arrive  at  the  ancient  land 
of  Brahma.  Let  them  have  storehouses  in  your  ports,  and 
drive  far  from  you  the  English,  accursed  among  the  children 
of  Jesus !  Such  is  the  will  of  Mohammed.  The  treasures,  in- 
dustry, and  friendship  of  the  Franks  shall  be  your  lot  till  you 
ascend  to  the  seventh  heaven  and  are  seated  by  the  side  of 
the  black-eyed  houris  who  are  endowed  with  perpetual  youth 
and  maidenhood." 

The  Mohammedan  muftis  in  return  called  him  an  envoy  of 
God,  the  favorite  of  Mohammed,  the  successor  of  Iskander 
[i.e.  Alexander  the  Great]  most  valiant  among  the  children  of 


320  Readings  in  Modern  European  History 


hammedan 
muftis 


Felicitations  Jesus.  "  May  the  Prophet,"  said  one  of  them,  "cause  thee  to 
of  the  Mo-  sit  at  his  left  hand  on  the  day  of  resurrection,  after  the  third 
sound  of  the  trumpet."  "  At  length,"  said  another, ''  the  dawn 
of  happiness  breaks  upon  us ;  the  time  destined  by  God  has 
arrived  ;  an  atmosphere  of  felicity  surrounds  us.  The  resplen- 
dent star  of  victory,  which  guides  the  French  warriors,  has  shed 
upon  us  its  dazzling  light ;  fame  and  honor  go  before  them ; 
good  fortune  and  honor  accompany  them.  The  chief  who 
marches  at  their  head  is  impetuous  and  terrible ;  his  name 
terrifies  kings.  Princes  bow  their  haughty  heads  before  this 
invincible  Bonaparte."  ^ 


146.  Bona- 
parte's 
attitude 
toward  his 
Egyptian 
adventure 


Madame  de  Remusat,  whose  husband  was  one  of 
Napoleon's  secretaries,  gives,  in  her  delightful  and  im- 
portant memoirs,  a  good  account  of  Bonaparte's  atti- 
tude toward  the  Egyptian  adventure  and  his  return  to 
France.  In  a  conversation  with  her  in  1803  he  boasted 
of  his  first  Italian  campaign  and  told  her  how  he  then 
cast  about  for  new  worlds  to  conquer. 

When  I  returned  to  France  I  found  public  opinion  in  a 
lethargic  condition.  In  Paris  —  and  Paris  is  France  —  people 
can  never  interest  themselves  in  things  if  they  do  not  care 
about  the  persons  connected  with  them.  The  customs  of  an 
old  monarchy  had  taught  them  to  personify  everything.  This 
habit  of  mind  is  bad  for  a  people  who  desire  liberty  seriously ; 
but  Frenchmen  can  no  longer  desire  anything  seriously,  except 
perhaps  it  be  equality,  and  even  that  they  would  renounce  will- 
ingly if  every  one  could  flatter  himself  that  he  was  the  first. 

To  be  equals,  with  everybody  uppermost,  is  the  secret  of 
the  vanity  of  all  of  you ;  every  man  among  you  must,  there- 
fore, be  given  the  hope  of  rising.  The  great  difficulty  that  the 
Directory  labored  under  was  that  no  one  cared  about  them,  and 
that  people  had  begun  to  care  a  great  deal  about  me. 

1  Similar  sentiments  are  expressed  in  some  of  Bonaparte's  proclama- 
tions printed  in  his  correspondence  and  in  the  extract  from  the  memoirs 
of  Madame  de  Remusat,  given  in  Number  146. 


Napoleon  Bonaparte  321 

I  do  not  know  what  would  have  happened  to  me  had  I 
not  conceived  the  happy  thought  of  going  to  Egypt.  When 
I  embarked  I  did  not  know  but  that  I  might  be  bidding  an 
eternal  farewell  to  France ;  but  I  had  little  doubt  that  she 
would  recall  me.  The  charm  of  Oriental  conquest  drew  my 
thoughts  away  from  Europe  more  than  I  should  have  believed 
possible.  My  imagination  interfered  again  this  time  with  my 
actions ;  but  I  think  it  died  out  at  St.  Jean  d'Acre.  However 
that  may  be,  I  shall  never  allow  it  to  interfere  with  me  again. 

In  Egypt  I  found  myself  free  from  the  wearisome  restraints  Bonaparte's 
of  civilization.    I  dreamed  all  sorts  of  things,  and  I  saw  how  ^'^^.^"1°^ 
all  that  I  dreamed  might  be  realized.    I  created  a  religion.    I  conquest 
pictured  myself  on  the  road  to  Asia  mounted  on  an  elephant, 
with  a  turban  on  my  head,  and  in  my  hand  a  new  Koran,  which 
I  should  compose  according  to  my  own  ideas.    I  would  have 
the  combined  experience  of  two  worlds  to  set  about  my  enter- 
prise ;  I  was  to  have  ransacked,  for  my  own  advantage,  the 
whole  domain  of  history ;  I  was  to  have  attacked  the  English 
power  in  India,  and  renewed  my  relations  with  old  Europe  by 
my  conquest. 

The  time  which  I  passed  in  Egypt  was  the  most  delightful  Bonaparte's 
part  of  my  life,  for  it  was  the  most  ideal.    Fate  decided  against  P^^^^^^^  ^J'^Jjj^ 
my  dreams ;  I  received  letters  from  France  ;  I  saw  that  there  Egypt 
was  not  a  moment  to  lose.    I  reverted  to  the  realities  of  life  and 
I  returned  to  Paris  —  to  Paris,  where  the  gravest  interests  of 
the  country  are  discussed  during  the  entf^acte  of  the  opera. 

The  Directory  trembled  at  my  return.  I  was  very  cautious  ; 
that  is  one  of  the  epochs  of  my  life  in  which  I  have  acted  with 
the  soundest  judgment.  I  saw  Abb^  Sieyes,  and  promised  him 
that  his  verbose  constitution  should  be  put  into  effect;  I  re- 
ceived the  chiefs  of  the  Jacobins  and  the  agents  of  the  Bour- 
bons ;  I  listened  to  advice  from  everybody,  but  gave  it  only  in 
the  interest  of  my  own  plans.  I  hid  myself  from  the  people, 
because  I  knew  that  when  the  time  came  curiosity  to  see  me 
would  make  them  run  after  me.  Every  one  was  taken  in  my 
toils ;  and  when  I  became  head  of  the  state,  there  was  not  a 
party  in  France  which  did  not  build  some  special  hope  upon 
my  success. 


322  Readings  in  Moderji  Eiiropean  History 

General  Bonaparte  thus  described  for  the  benefit  of 
the  pubhc  his  coup  d'etat : 


147.  Bona- 
parte's own 
account  of  his 
coup  d'etat 
of  Brumaire 


19th  Brumaire,  11  o'clock  p.m. 
To  the  People  : 

Frenchmen,  on  my  return  to  France  I  found  division  reign- 
ing among  all  the  authorities.  They  agreed  only  on  this  single 
point,  that  the  constitution  was  half  destroyed  and  was  unable 
to  protect  liberty. 

Each  party  in  turn  came  to  me,  confided  to  me  their  designs, 
imparted  their  secrets,  and  requested  my  support.  But  I  refused 
to  be  the  man  of  a  party. 

The  Council  of  Elders  appealed  to  me.  I  answered  their 
appeal.  A  plan  of  general  restoration  had  been  concerted  by 
men  whom  the  nation  has  been  accustomed  to  regard  as  the 
defenders  of  liberty,  equality,  and  property.  This  plan  required 
calm  deliberation,  free  from  all  influence  and  all  fear.  The 
Elders  therefore  resolved  upon  the  removal  of  the  legislative 
bodies  to  St.  Cloud.  They  placed  at  my  disposal  the  force 
necessary  to  secure  their  independence.  I  was  bound,  in  duty 
to  my  fellow-citizens,  to  the  soldiers  perishing  in  our  armies, 
and  to  the  national  glory  acquired  at  the  cost  of  so  much  blood, 
to  accept  the  command. 

The  Council  assembled  at  St.  Cloud.  Republican  troops  guar- 
anteed their  safety  from  without,  but  assassins  created  terror 
within.  Many  deputies  in  the  Council  of  Five  Hundred,  armed 
with  stilettos  and  pistols,  spread  the  menace  of  death  around 
them. 

The  plans  which  ought  to  have  been  developed  were  with- 
held. The  majority  of  the  Council  was  disorganized,  the  boldest 
orators  were  disconcerted,  and  the  futility  of  submitting  any 
salutary  proposition  was  quite  evident. 

I  proceeded,  filled  with  indignation  and  chagrin,  to  the 
Council  of  the  Elders.  I  besought  them  to  carry  their  noble 
designs  into  execution.  I  directed  their  attention  to  the  evils 
of  the  nation,  which  were  their  motives  for  conceiving  those 
designs.  They  concurred  in  giving  me  new  proofs  of  their 
unanimous  good  will. 


Napoleon  Bonapai'te  323 

I  presented  myself  before  the  Council  of  the  Five  Hun-  Bonaparte 
dred  alone,  unarmed,  my  head  uncovered,  just  as  the  Elders  claims  that 
had  received  and  applauded  me.    My   object  was  to  restore  murderously 
to  the  majority  the  expression  of  its  will  and  to  secure   to  assailed  in 

.      .,  the  Council 

It  Its  power.  ^^  t^^  p.^^ 

The  stilettos  which  had  menaced  the  deputies  were  instantly  Hundred 
raised  against  their  deliverer.  Twenty  assassins  rushed  upon 
me  and  aimed  at  my  breast.  The  grenadiers  of  the  legislative 
body,  w^hom  I  had  left  at  the  door  of  the  hall,  ran  forward  and 
placed  themselves  between  me  and  the  assassins.  One  of  these 
brave  grenadiers  [Thome]  had  his  clothes  pierced  by  a  stiletto.^ 
They  bore  me  out. 

At  the  same  moment  cries  of  "Outlaw  him  !  "  were  raised 
against  the  defender  of  the  law.  It  was  the  horrid  cry  of 
assassins  against  the  power  destined  to  repress  them.  They 
crowded  around  the  president  [Lucien  Bonaparte],  uttering 
threats.  With  arms  in  their  hands,  they  commanded  him  to 
declare  me  outlawed.  I  was  informed  of  this.  I  ordered  him 
to  be  rescued  from  their  fury,  and  six  grenadiers  of  the 
legislative  body  brought  him  out.  Immediately  afterwards 
som.e  grenadiers  of  the  legislative  body  charged  the  hall  and 
cleared  it. 

The  seditious,  thus  intimidated,  dispersed  and  fled.  The 
majority,  freed  from  their  assailants,  returned  freely  and 
peaceably  into  the  hall,  listened  to  the  propositions  for  the 
public  safety,  deliberated,  and  drew  up  the  salutary  resolu- 
tion which  will  become  the  new  and  provisional  law  of  the 
republic. 

Frenchmen,  you  will  doubtless  recognize  in  this  conduct  the 
zeal  of  a  soldier  of  liberty,  of  a  citizen  devoted  to  the  republic. 
Conservative,  judicial,  and  liberal  ideas  resumed  their  sway 
upon  the  dispersion  of  those  seditious  persons  who  had  dom- 
ineered in  the  councils  and  who  proved  themselves  the  most 

odious  and  contemptible  of  men.  _, 

^  Bonaparte 

1  Thom^  had  a  small  part  of  his  coat  torn  by  a  deputy  who  took  him 
by  the  collar.  This  constituted,  according  to  Bourrienne,  the  whole  of 
the  attempted  assassination  of  the  19th  Brumaire. 


324  Readings  in  Modern  Europe  art  History 


The  son  of  Madame  de  Remusat  thus  recalls  how, 
when  a  Httle  boy,  he  caught  a  ghmpse  of  the  First 
Consul : 

148.  Bona-  One  day  my  mother  came  for  me  (I  think  she  had  accom- 

parte's  man-  panied  Madame  Bonaparte  into  the  court  of  the  Tuileries)  and 
First  Consul  ^ook  me  up  a  staircase  full  of  soldiers,  at  whom  I  stared  hard. 
One  of  them  who  was  coming  down  spoke  to  her ;  he  wore  an 
infantry  uniform.  "Who  was  that?"  I  asked,  when  he  had 
passed.  It  was  Louis  Bonaparte.  Then  I  saw  a  young  man 
going  upstairs  in  the  well-known  uniform  of  the  [corps  known 
as  the]  guides.  His  name  I  did  not  need  to  ask.  Children  in 
those  days  knew  the  insignia  of  every  rank  and  corps  in  the 
army,  and  who  did  not  know  that  Eugene  Beauharnais  was 
colonel  of  the  guides? 

At  last  we  reached  Madame  Bonaparte's  drawing-room.  At 
first  there  was  no  one  there  but  herself,  one  or  two  ladies,  and 
my  father,  wearing  his  red  coat  embroidered  in  silver.  I  was 
probably  kissed  —  or  perhaps  they  thought  me  grown  ;  then 
no  one  noticed  me  any  further.  Soon  an  officer  of  the  consul's 
guard  entered.  He  was  short,  thin,  and  carried  himself  badly, 
or  at  least  carelessly.  I  w^as  sufficiently  drilled  in  etiquette  to 
observe  that  he  moved  about  a  great  deal  and  made  rather 
free.  Among  other  things  I  was  surprised  to  see  him  sit  on  the 
arm  of  a  chair.  From  thence  he  spoke  across  a  considerable 
distance  to  my  mother.  We  were  in  front  of  him,  and  I  re- 
marked his  thin,  almost  wan  face,  with  its  brown  and  yellowish 
tints.  We  drew  near  to  him  while  he  spoke.  When  I  was  within 
his  reach  he  noticed  me  ;  he  took  me  by  my  two  ears  and  pulled 
them  rather  roughly.  He  hurt  me,  and  had  I  not  been  in  a 
palace  I  should  have  cried.  Then,  turning  to  my  father,  he  said, 
"  Is  he  learning  mathematics  ?  "  Soon  I  was  taken  away.  "Who 
is  that  soldier?"  I  asked  my  mother.  "That  soldier  is  the 
First  Consul." 


Careless  de- 
portment of 
Bonaparte 


Bonaparte's  disregard  of  others  and  his  insolent  atti- 
tude toward  those  who  served  him  are  seen  in  the  follow- 
ing incident  reported  by  Madame  de  Remusat. 


Napoleon  Bonaparte  325 

Bonaparte  dictated  with  great  ease.    He  never  wrote  any-  149.  How 

thing  with  his  own  hand.    His  handwriting  w^as  bad  and  as  ^o^^P^*® 
.„     T,  ,  ,  .         ,.  ,  1    ,  •  ,,.  made  others 

illegible   to  himself  as  to  others;    and  his  spelling  was  very  uncom- 

defective.  He  utterly  lacked  patience  to  do  anything  what-  Portable 
ever  with  his  own  hands.  The  extreme  activity  of  his  mind 
and  the  habitual  prompt  obedience  rendered  to  him  prevented 
him  from  practicing  any  occupation  in  which  the  mind  must 
necessarily  wait  for  the  action  of  the  body.  Those  who  wrote 
from  his  dictation — first  Monsieur  Bourrienne,  then  Monsieur 
Maret,  and  Meneval,  his  private  secretary  —  had  made  a  short- 
hand for  themselves  in  order  that  their  pens  might  travel  as 
fast  as  his  thoughts. 

He  dictated  while  walking  to  and  fro  in  his  cabinet.  When 
he  grew  angry  he  would  use  violent  imprecations,  which  were 
suppressed  in  writing  and  which  had,  at  least,  the  advantage 
of  giving  the  writer  time  to  catch  up  with  him.  He  never 
repeated  anything  that  he  had  once  said,  even  if  it  had  not 
been  heard  ;  and  this  was  very  hard  on  the  poor  secretary, 
for  Bonaparte  remembered  accurately  what  he  had  said  and 
detected  every  omission. 

One  day  he  read  a  tragedy  in  manuscript,  and  it  interested 
him  sufficiently  to  inspire  him  with  a  fancy  to  make  some 
alterations  in  it.  "  Take  a  pen  and  paper,"  said  he  to  Monsieur 
de  Remusat,  "and  write  for  me."  Hardly  giving  my  husband 
time  to  seat  himself  at  a  table,  he  began  to  dictate  so  quickly 
that  Monsieur  de  Remusat,  although  accustomed  to  write  w^ith 
great  rapidity,  was  bathed  in  perspiration  while  trying  to  follow 
him.  Bonaparte  perceived  his  difficulty,  and  would  stop  now 
and  then  to  say,  "  Come,  try  to  understand  me,  for  I  will  not 
repeat  what  I  say." 

He  always  derived  amusement  from  causing  any  one  un-  Bonaparte's 
easiness  and  distress.    His  great  general  principle,  which  he  conviction 
applied  to  everything,  both  great  and  small,  was  that  there  depends  upon 
could  be  no  zeal  where  there  was   no  disquietude.     Fortu-  disquietude 
nately  he  forgot  to  ask  for  the  sheet  of  observations  he  had 
dictated.    Monsieur  de   Remusat  and  I  have   often   tried  to 
read  it  since,  but  we  have  never  been  able  to  make  out  a 
word  of  it. 


326  Readings  in  Moderji  European  History 

Bonaparte  might  freely  tease  his  attendants  and  secre- 
taries, but,  in  his  early  days  at  least,  he  took  great  pains 
to  win  the  hearts  of  his  soldiers. 

Bonaparte's  reception  by  the  troops  was  nothing  short  of 
rapturous.  It  was  well  worth  seeing  how  he  talked  to  the 
his  soldiers,  —  how  he  questioned  them  one  after  the  other  respect- 
ing their  campaigns  or  their  wounds,  taking  particular  interest 
in  the  men  who  had  accompanied  him  to  Egypt.  I  have  heard 
Madame  Bonaparte  say  that  her  husband  was  in  the  constant 
habit  of  poring  over  the  list  of  what  are  called  the  cadres  of  the 
army  at  night  before  he  slept.  He  would  go  to  sleep  repeating 
the  names  of  the  corps,  and  even  those  of  some  of  the  indi- 
viduals who  composed  them;  he  kept  these  names  in  a  corner 
of  his  memory,  and  this  habit  came  to  his  aid  when  he  wanted 
to  recognize  a  soldier  and  to  give  him  a  cheering  word  from 
his  general.  He  spoke  to  the  subalterns  in  a  tone  of  good 
fellowship,  which  delighted  them  all,  as  he  reminded  them 
of  their  common  feats  of  arms. 

Afterwards,  when  his  armies  became  so  numerous  and  his 
battles  so  deadly,  he  disdained  to  exercise  this  kind  of  fascina- 
tion. Besides,  death  had  extinguished  so  many  remembrances 
that  in  a  few  years  it  became  difficult  for  him  to  find  any  great 
number  of  the  companions  of  his  early  exploits ;  and  when  he 
addressed  the  soldiers  before  leading  them  into  battle,  it  was 
a  perpetually  renewed  posterity  to  which  the  preceding  and 
destroyed  army  had  bequeathed  its  glory.  But  even  this  som- 
ber style  of  encouragement  availed  for  a  long  time  with  a  nation 
which  believed  itself  to  be  fulfilling  its  destiny  while  sending 
its  sons  year  after  year  to  die  for  Bonaparte. 

Section  41.     The  Second  Coalition  against  France 

Bourrienne^  thus  sketches  the  campaign  of  Marengo: 

It  cannot  be  denied  that  if,  from  the  i8th  Brumaire  to  the 
epoch  when  Bonaparte  began  the  campaign,  innumerable  im- 
provements had  been  made  in  the  internal  affairs  of  France, 

1  See  above,  p.  316. 


Napoleon  Bonaparte  327 

foreign  affairs  could  not  be  viewed  with  the  same  satisfaction.  151-  The 
Italy  had  been  lost,  and  the  Austrian  camp  fires  might  be  seen  ^^g^^^^^s 
from  the  frontiers  of  Provence.    Bonaparte  was  not  ignorant  described  by 
of  the  difficulties  of  his  position,  and  it  was  even  on  account  of  Bourrienne 
these  very  difficulties  that,  whatever  might  be  the  result  of  his  situation  of 
hazardous  enterprise,  he  wished  to  have  it  over  as  quickly  as  Bonaparte 
possible.    He  cherished  no  illusions  and  often  said  all  must  be  Brumaire 
staked  to  gain  all. 

The  army  which  the  First  Consul  was  preparing  to  attack 
was  numerous,  well  disciplined,  and  victorious.  His  own,  with 
the  exception  of  a  very  small  number  of  troops,  was  composed 
of  conscripts ;  but  these  conscripts  were  commanded  by  officers 
whose  ardor  was  unparalleled.  Bonaparte's  fortune  was  now  to 
depend  on  the  winning  or  losing  of  a  single  battle.  A  battle 
lost  would  have  dispelled  all  the  dreams  of  his  imagination, 
and  with  them  would  have  vanished  all  his  immense  schemes 
for  the  future  of  France.   .  .  . 

The  grand   idea  of  the   invasion   of  Italy  by  way  of  the  Crossing  of 
St.  Bernard  pass  emanated  exclusively  from  the  First  Consul,  the  St.  Ber- 

•        1  •       1       1  J      •        •         nard  pass 

This  miraculous  achievement  justly  excited  the  admiration  (May,  1800) 
of  the  world.  The  incredible  difficulties  it  presented  did 
not  daunt  the  courage  of  Bonaparte's  -troops,  and  his  gen- 
erals, accustomed  as  they  had  been  to  brave  fatigue  and 
danger,  regarded  without  concern  the  gigantic  enterprise  of 
the  modern  Hannibal. 

A  convent,  or  hospice,  which  has  been  established  on  the 
mountain  for  the  purpose  of  affording  assistance  to  solitary 
travelers,  sufficiently  attests  the  dangers  of  these  stormy  regions. 
But  the  St.  Bernard  was  now  to  be  crossed  not  by  solitary  trav- 
elers but  by  an  army.  Cavalry,  baggage,  timbers,  and  artillery 
were  now  to  wend  their  way  along  those  narrow  paths  where 
the  goatherd  cautiously  picks  his  footsteps.  On  the  one  hand, 
masses  of  snow  suspended  above  our  heads  threatened  every 
moment  to  break  in  avalanches  and  sweep  us  away  in  their 
descent ;  on  the  other,  a  false  step  was  death.  We  all  passed, 
men  and  horses,  one  by  one  along  the  goat  paths.  The  artillery 
was  dismounted,  and  the  guns,  put  into  hollowed  trunks  of  trees, 
were  drawn  by  ropes.  .  .  . 


328  Readings  in  Modern  European  History 

(Condensed)        We  arrived  at  Milan  on  the  2d  of  June.    But  little  resist- 
ance was  offered  to  our  entrance  into  the  capital  of  Lombardy. 
The  First  Consul  passed  six  days  in  the  city,  and  the  time  ap- 
proached when  all  was  to  be  lost  or  won.    On  the  13th  the 
First  Consul  slept  at  Torre  di  Galifolo.    On  the  morning  of  the 
14th  General  Desaix  was  sent  toward  Novi  to  observe  the  road 
to  Genoa,  which  city  had  fallen  several  days  before,  in  spite  of 
the  efforts  of  its  illustrious  defender,  Massena. 
The  battle  of       That  memorable  battle  of  Marengo,  of  which  the  results 
Marengo        were  incalculable,  has  been  described  in  various  ways.    For  my 
part,  not  having  had  the  honor  to  bear  a  sword,  I  cannot  say 
that  I  saw  any  particular  movements  executed  this  way  or  that; 
but  I  may  mention  here  what  I  heard  on  the  evening  of  the 
battle  concerning  the  hazards  of  the  day.    As  to  the  part  which 
the  First  Consul  took  in  it,  the  reader  is  perhaps  sufficiently 
Bonaparte      acquainted  with  his  character  to  account  for  it.    He  did  not 
claims  all  the  choose  that  a  result  so  decisive  should  be  attributed  to  any 
himself  Other  cause  than  the  combinations  of  his  genius ;  and  if  I  had 

not  known  his  insatiable  thirst  for  glory,  I  should  have  been 
surprised  at  the  half  satisfaction  evinced  at  the  cause  of  the 
success  amidst  the  joy  manifested  for  the  success  itself.  It  must 
be  confessed  that  in  this  he  is  very  unlike  Jourdan,  Hoche, 
Kleber,  and  Moreau,  who  were  ever  ready  to  acknowledge  the 
services  of  those  who  had  fought  under  their  orders. 

Within  two  hours  of  the  time  when  the  divisions  commanded 
by  Desaix  left  San  Giuliano  I  was  joyfully  surprised  by  the 
triumphant  return  of  the  army  whose  fate,  since  the  morning, 
had  caused  me  so  much  anxiety.  Never  did  fortune  within  so 
short  a  time  show  herself  under  two  such  various  faces.  At  two 
o'clock  everything  indicated  the  misery  of  a  defeat  with  all  its 
fatal  consequences  ;  at  five,  victory  was  again  faithful  to  the 
flag  of  Areola.  Italy  was  reconquered  at  a  single  blow,  and  the 
crown  of  France  appeared  in  the  distance  [to  the  victorious 
general]. 

The  Treaty  of  Campo-Formio^  was  the  fruit  of  Bona- 
parte's first  campaign  in  Italy  (1796- 1797).   After  the 

1  vSee  above,  pp.  316  sqq. 


Napoleon  Bonaparte  329 

temporary  reverses  suffered  by  France  during  Bona- 
parte's absence  in  Egypt,  his  victory  over  the  Austrians 
at  Marengo,  and  another  victory  of  the  French  at  Hohen- 
linden  in  December,  1800,  put  the  First  Consul  in  a 
position  to  exact  at  Luneville  all  the  concessions  which 
Austria  had  made  at  Campo-Formio  and  somewhat  more. 
The  chief  provisions  of  this  important  treaty  are  here 
given.  They  well  illustrate  the  unscrupulous  manner  in 
which  Austria  and  France  disposed  of  the  lesser  coun- 
tries and  the  system  of  reckless  territorial  changes  which 
are  so  conspicuous  during  the  whole  Napoleonic  period. 

His  Majesty  the  emperor,  king  of  Hungary  and  of  Bohemia,  152.  Chief 
and  the  First  Consul  of  the  French  republic,  in  the  name  of  articles  of 
the  French  people,  induced  by  a  common  desire  to  put  an  end  Luneville 
to  the  evils  of  war,  have  resolved  to  proceed  to  the  conclusion  (February, 
of  a  definitive  treaty  of  peace  and  amity.    Moreover  his  said  ^^°^^ 
Imperial  and  Royal  Majesty,  since  he  desires  no  less  sincerely 
to  extend  the  benefits  of  peace  to  the  German  empire,  and 
since  the  existing  conditions  do  not  afford  the  necessary  time 
to  consult  the  empire,  or  to  permit  its  representatives  to  take 
part  in  the  negotiations,  has  resolved,  in  view  of  the  concessions 
made  by  the  deputation  of  the  empire  at  the  recent  Congress  of 
Rastadt,  to  treat  in  the  name  of  the  German  confederation,  as 
has  happened  before  under  similar  circumstances. 

Hence  the  contracting  parties  have  named  the  following  as 
their  plenipotentiaries  : 

His  Imperial  and  Royal  Majesty,  the  Sieur  Louis,  count  of 
Cobenzl,  minister  of  conferences  and  vice  chancellor  of  the 
court  and  of  state,  etc. 

The  First  Consul  of  the  French  republic,  in  the  name  of  the 
French  people,  Citizen  Joseph  Bonaparte,  councilor  of  state. 
These  having  exchanged  their  credentials,  have  agreed  upon 
the  following  articles  : 

I.  Peace,  amity,  and  a  good  understanding  shall  here- 
after exist  forever  between  his  Majesty  the  emperor,  king  of 


330  Readings  in  Modcr7i  European  History 


Austrian 
Netherlands 
ceded  to 
France 


Venice  and 
most  of  its 
territory- 
ceded  to 
Austria 


Duke  of 

Modena  in- 
demnified in 
Germany 


Tuscany 
given  to  duke 
of  Parma, 
who  belonged 
to  the  Spanish 
royal  family 


Hungary  and  Bohemia,  acting  both  in  his  own  name  and  in 
that  of  the  German  empire,  and  the  French  repubhc ;   .  .  . 

II.  The  cession  of  the  former  Belgian  provinces  to  the 
French  republic,  stipulated  in  Article  III  of  the  Treaty  of 
Campo-Formio,  is  renewed  here  in  the  most  solemn  manner. 
His  Majesty  the  emperor  and  king  therefore  renounces  for 
himself  and  his  successors,  as  well  on  his  own  part  as  on  that 
of  the  German  empire,  all  right  and  title  to  the  above  specified 
provinces,  which  shall  be  held  in  perpetuity  by  the  French  re- 
public in  full  sovereignty  and  proprietary  right.  .  .  . 

III.  Moreover,  in  confirmation  of  Article  VI  of  the  Treaty  of 
Campo-Formio,  his  Majesty  the  emperor  and  king  shall  possess 
in  full  sovereignty  and  proprietary  right  the  countries  enu- 
merated below,  to  wit :  Istria,  Dalmatia,  and  the  islands  of  the 
Adriatic,  formerly  belonging  to  Venice,  dependent  upon  them  ; 
the  mouths  of  the  Cattaro,  the  city  of  Venice,  the  Lagunes, 
and  the  territory  included  between  the  hereditary  states  of  his 
Majesty  the  emperor  and  king,  the  Adriatic  Sea,  and  the  Adige 
from  the  point  where  it  leaves  Tyrol  to  that  where  it  flows  into 
the  Adriatic,  the  channel  of  the  Adige  forming  the  boundary 
line.  .  .  . 

IV.  Article  XVIII  of  the  Treaty  of  Campo-Formio  is  like- 
wise renewed,  inasmuch  as  his  Majesty  the  emperor  and  king 
agrees  to  cede  to  the  duke  of  Modena,  as  an  indemnity  for  the 
territory  which  this  prince  and  his  heirs  possessed  in  Italy, 
the  Breisgau,  which  he  shall  hold  upon  the  same  conditions 
as  those  upon  which  he  held  Modena. 

V.  It  is  further  agreed  that  his  Royal  Highness  the  grand 
duke  of  Tuscany  shall  renounce  for  himself,  his  successors, 
or  possible  claimants,  the  grand  duchy  of  Tuscany  and  that 
part  of  the  island  of  Elba  belonging  to  it,  as  well  as  all  rights 
and  titles  resulting  from  the  possession  of  the  said  states, 
which  shall  hereafter  be  held  in  full  sovereignty  and  proprie- 
tary right  by  his  Royal  Highness  the  infante  duke  of  Parma. 
The  grand  duke  shall  receive  a  complete  and  full  indemnity 
in  Germany  for  the  loss  of  his  states  in  Italy.   .   .  . 

VI.  His  Majesty  the  emperor  and  king  consents  not  only 
on  his  part  but  upon  the  part  of  the  German  empire  that  the 


Napoleo7i  Bonaparte  331 

French  republic  shall  hereafter  possess  in  full  sovereignty  and  Cession  of 

proprietary  right  the  territories  and  domains  lying  on  the  left  ^^®  ^^^*  ^^"^ 
1        1       r    1       ifi  •  1   r         •  r     1       ,-  •         of  the  Rhine 

bank  of  the  Rhine  and  formmg  a  part  of  the  German  empire,  ^^  France 

so  that,  in  conformity  with  the  concessions  granted  by  the 
deputation  of  the  empire  at  the  Congress  of  Rastadt  and 
approved  by  the  emperor,  the  channel  of  the  Rhine  shall  here- 
after form  the  boundary  between  the  French  republic  and  the 
German  empire,  from  that  point  where  the  Rhine  leaves  Helve- 
tian territory  to  the  point  where  it  reaches  Batavian  territory. 
In  view  of  this  the  French  republic  formally  renounces  all 
possessions  whatsoever  upon  the  right  bank  of  the  Rhine  and 
agrees  to  restore  to  their  owners  the  following  places  :  Diissel- 
dorf,  Ehrenbreitstein,  Phillipsburg,  the  fortress  of  Cassel  and 
other  fortifications  across  from  Mayence  on  the  right  bank  of 
the  stream,  and  the  fortress  of  Kiel  and  Alt-Breisach,  under 
the  express  provision  that  these  places  and  forts  shall  con- 
tinue to  exist  in  the  state  in  which  they  are  left  at  the  time 
of  the  evacuation. 

VII.  Since,  in  consequence   of   this  cession  made   by  the  Dispossessed 
empire  to  the  French  republic,  various  princes  and  states  of  German 

.        -      ,     ,  1  •     1-    -1       11      1-  1    •  rulers  to  be 

the  empire  find  themselves  individually  dispossessed  in  part  or  indemnified 
wholly  of  their  territory,  and  since  the  German  empire  should  within  the 
collectively  support  the  losses  resulting  from  the  stipulations  ^"^P^"^ 
of  the  present  treaty,  it  is  agreed   between  his  Majesty  the 
emperor  and  king,  —  both  on  his  part  and  upon  the  part  of  the 
German  empire,  —  and  the  French  republic,  that,  in  accord- 
ance with  the  principles  laid  down  at  the  Congress  of  Rastadt, 
the  empire  shall  be  bound  to  furnish  the  hereditary  princes 
who  have  lost  possessions  upon  the  left  bank  of  the  Rhine  an 
indemnity  within  the  empire  according  to  such  arrangements 
as  shall  be  determined  later  in  accordance  with  the  stipulations 
here  made.  .  .  . 

XI.  The  present  treaty  of  peace   ...   is  declared  to  be  New  states 
common  to  the  Batavian,  Helvetian,  Cisalpine,  and  Ligurian  [°  J5^g  J^'ll^fy ** 
republics.    The   contracting    parties   mutually   guarantee   the 
independence  of  the  said  republics  and  the  freedom  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  said  countries  to  adopt  such  form  of  govern- 
ment as  they  shall  see  fit. 


332  Readings  hi  Modern  Eiiropeaii  History 

Cisalpine  XII.  His  Majesty  the  emperor  and  king  renounces  for  him- 
republic  ggjf  ^j^^j  for  his  successors  in  favor  of  the  Cisalpine  republic  all 
rights  and  titles  depending  upon  such  rights,  which  his  Majesty 
might  assert  over  the  territories  in  Italy  which  he  possessed 
before  the  war  and  which,  according  to  the  terms  of  Article 
VIII  of  the  Treaty  of  Campo-Formio,  now  form  a  part  of  the 
Cisalpine  republic.  .  .  . 

XIX.  The  present  treaty  shall  be  ratified  by  his  Majesty  the 
emperor  and  king,  the  empire,  and  the  French  republic  within 
a  period  of  thirty  days,  or  sooner,  if  possible,  and  it  is  further 
understood  that  the  armies  of  the  two  powers  shall  remain 
in  their  present  positions,  both  in  Germany  and  Italy,  until 
the  said  ratifications  of  the  emperor  and  king,  of  the  empire, 
and  of  the  French  republic  shall  have  been  simultaneously  ex- 
changed at  Luneville  between  the  respective  plenipotentiaries. 
It  is  also  agreed  that  within  ten  days  after  the  exchange  of  the 
said  ratifications  the  armies  of  his  imperial  and  royal  majesty 
shall  be  withdrawn  into  his  hereditary  possessions,  which  shall 
be  evacuated  within  the  same  space  of  time  by  the  French 
armies ;  and  within  thirty  days  after  the  said  exchange  the 
French  armies  shall  have  completely  evacuated  the  territory 
of  the  said  empire. 

Done  and  signed  at  Luneville,  February  9,  1801  (the  20th 
Pluviose  of  the  year  nine  of  the  French  republic). 

(Signed)  Louis,  Count  of  Cobenzl 

Joseph  Bonaparte 


CHAPTER   XV 

EUROPE  AND  NAPOLEON 

Section  ^.    Bonapa7'te  restores  Order  and  Prosperity 
in  France 

Madame  de  Remusat  suggests  the  following  reasons 
why  the  French  people  so  readily  subjected  themselves 
to  the  despotism  of  Napoleon. 

I  can  understand  how  it  was  that  men  worn  out  by  the  tur-  153.  Why 

moil  of  the  Revolution,  and  afraid  of  that  liberty  which  had  *^®  French 

people  sub- 
long  been  associated  with  death,  looked  for  repose  under  the  mitted  to 

dominion  of  an  able  ruler  on  whom  Fortune  was  seemingly  Bonaparte's 
resolved  to  smile.  I  can  conceive  that  they  regarded  his  eleva-  ^^  ® 
tion  as  a  decree  of  destiny  and  fondly  believed  that  in  the  irrev- 
ocable they  should  find  peace.  I  may  confidently  assert  that 
those  persons  believed  quite  sincerely  that  Bonaparte,  whether 
as  Consul  or  Emperor,  would  exert  his  authority  to  oppose 
the  intrigues  of  faction  and  would  save  us  from  the  perils 
of  anarchy. 

None  dared  to  utter  the  word  "  republic,"  so  deeply  had  the 
Terror  stained  that  name ;  and  the  government  of  the  Direc- 
tory had  perished  in  the  contempt  with  which  its  chiefs  w^ere 
regarded.  The  return  of  the  Bourbons  could  only  be  brought 
about  by  the  aid  of  a  revolution  ;  and  the  slightest  disturbance 
terrified  the  French  people,  in  whom  enthusiasm  of  every  kind 
seemed  dead.  Besides,  the  men  in  whom  they  had  trusted  had 
one  after  the  other  deceived  them ;  and  as,  this  time,  they 
were  yielding  to  force,  they  were  at  least  certain  that  they  were 
not  deceiving  themselves. 

The  belief,  or  rather  the  error,  that  only  despotism  could  at 
that  epoch  maintain  order  in  France  was  very  widespread.  It 
became  the  mainstay  of  Bonaparte;  and  it  is  due  to  him  to 


334  Readifigs  in  Modern  European  History 

say  that  he  also  believed  it.  The  factions  played  into  his  hands 
by  imprudent  attempts  which  he  turned  to  his  own  advantage. 
He  had  some  grounds  for  his  belief  that  he  was  necessary ; 
France  believed  it,  too ;  and  he  even  succeeded  in  persuading 
foreign  sovereigns  that  he  constituted  a  barrier  against  repub- 
lican influences,  which,  but  for  him,  might  spread  widely.  At 
the  moment  when  Bonaparte  placed  the  imperial  crown  upon 
his  head  there  was  not  a  king  in  Europe  who  did  not  believe 
that  he  wore  his  own  crown  more  securely  because  of  that 
event.  Had  the  new  emperor  granted  a  liberal  constitution, 
the  peace  of  nations  and  of  kings  might  really  have  been  for- 
ever secured. 

Five  years  after  Bonaparte  had  become  the  head  of 
the  French  government  he  sums  up  the  general  situa- 
tion in  France  in  a  statement  which  he  laid  before  the 
legislative  body,  December  31,  1804. 

154.  Napo-  The  internal  situation  of  France  is  to-day  as  calm  as  it  has 
Icon's  ac-  g^.^j.  h^^r^.  in  the  most  peaceful  periods.  There  is  no  agita- 
internal  tion  to  disturb  the  public  tranquillity,  no  suggestion  of  those 
situation  of  crimes  which  recall  the  Revolution.  Everywhere  useful  enter- 
i8o4*^(Much  prises  are  in  progress,  and  the  general  improvements,  both 
condensed)    public  and  private,  attest  the  universal  confidence  and  sense 

of  security.  .  .  . 
Reasons  for        A  plot  conceived  by  an  implacable  government  was  about  to 
establishing    replunge  France  into  the  abyss  of  civil  war  and  anarchy.    The 
place  of  the    discovery  of  this  horrible  crime  stirred  all  France  profoundly, 
consulate       and  anxieties  that  had  scarcely  been  calmed  again  awoke.    Ex- 
perience has  taught  that  a  divided  power  in  the  state  is  impotent 
and  at  odds  with  itself.    It  was  generally  felt  that  if  power  was 
delegated  for  short  periods  only,  it  was  so  uncertain  as  to  dis- 
courage any  prolonged  undertakings  or  wide-reaching  plans.   If 
vested  in  an  individual  for  life,  it  would  lapse  with  him,  and 
after  him  would  prove  a  source  of  anarchy  and  discord.    It  was 
clearly  seen  that  for  a  great  nation  the  only  salvation  lies  in 
hereditary  power,  which  can  alone  assure  a  continuous  political 
life  w^hich  may  endure  for  generations,  even  for  centuries. 


Europe  and  Napoleon  335 

The  Senate,  as  was  proper,  served  as  the  organ  through  which 
this  general  apprehension  found  expression.  The  necessity  of 
hereditary  power  in  a  state  as  vast  as  France  had  long  been 
perceived  by  the  First  Consul.  He  had  endeavored  in  vain  to 
avoid  this  conclusion ;  but  the  public  solicitude  and  the  hopes 
of  our  enemies  emphasized  the  importance  of  his  task,  and  he 
realized  that  his  death  might  ruin  his  whole  work.  Under  such 
circumstances,  and  with  such  a  pressure  of  public  opinion,  there 
was  no  alternative  left  to  the  First  Consul.  He  resolved,  there- 
fore, to  accept  for  himself,  and  two  of  his  brothers  after  him, 
the  burden  imposed  by  the  exigencies  of  the  situation. 

After  prolonged  consideration,  repeated  conferences  with 
the  members  of  the  Senate,  discussion  in  the  councils,  and  the 
suggestions  of  the  most  prudent  advisers,  a  series  of  provisions 
was  drawn  up  which  regulate  the  succession  to  the  imperial 
throne.  These  provisions  were  decreed  by  a  senatus  consultus 
of  the  28th  Floreal  last.  The  French  people,  by  a  free  and  inde- 
pendent expression,  then  manifested  its  desire  that  the  imperial 
dignity  should  pass  down  in  a  direct  line  through  the  legitimate 
or  adopted  descendants  of  Napoleon  Bonaparte,  or  through 
the  legitimate  descendants  of  Joseph  Bonaparte,  or  of  Louis 
Bonaparte. 

From  this  moment  Napoleon  was,  by  the  most  unquestion-  Coronation  of 

able  of  titles,  emperor  of  the  French.    No  other  act  was  neces-  Napoleon  by 

•        1  •       •   ,  1  ,  •  ,       •  -n.       1       the  Pope 

sary  to  sanction  his  right  and  consecrate  his  authority.    But  he 

wished  to  restore  in  France  the  ancient  forms  and  recall  those 

institutions  which  divinity  itself  seems  to  have  inspired.    He 

wished  to  impress  the  seal  of  religion  itself  upon  the  opening 

of  his  reign.    The  head  of  the   Church,  in  order  to  give  the 

French  a  striking  proof  of  his  paternal  affection,  consented  to 

officiate  at  this  august  ceremony.    What  deep  and  enduring 

impressions  did  this  leave  on  the  mind  of  Napoleon  and  in  the 

memory  of  the  nation  !    What  thoughts  for  future  races  !    What 

a  subject  of  wonder  for  all  Europe  ! 

In  the  midst  of  this  pomp,  and  under  the  eye  of  the  Eternal, 

Napoleon  pronounced  the  inviolable  oath  which  assures  the 

integrity  of  the  empire,  the  security  of  property,  the  perpetuity 

of  institutions,  the  respect  for  law,  and  the  happiness  of  the 


336  Readings  in  Modern  Eitropean  History 


The  new 
codes 


New  schools 


nation.  The  oath  of  Napoleon  shall  be  forever  the  terror  of 
the  enemies  of  France.  If  our  borders  are  attacked,  it  will  be 
repeated  at  the  head  of  our  armies,  and  our  frontiers  shall  never 
more  fear  foreign  invasion. 

The  principles  safeguarded  by  the  coronation  oath  are  those 
of  our  legislation.  Hereafter  there  will  be  fewer  laws  to  submit 
to  the  legislative  body.  The  civil  code  has  fulfilled  the  expec- 
tations of  the  public  ;  all  citizens  are  acquainted  with  it ;  it 
serves  as  their  guide  in  their  various  transactions,  and  is  every- 
where lauded  as  a  benefaction.  A  draft  of  a  criminal  code  has 
been  completed  for  two  years  and  has  been  subjected  to  the 
criticism  of  the  courts ;  at  this  moment  it  is  being  discussed 
for  the  last  time  by  the  Council  of  State.  The  code  of  proced- 
ure and  the  commercial  code  are  still  where  they  were  a  year 
ago,  for  pressing  cares  have  diverted  the  emperor's  attention 
elsewhere. 

New  schools  are  being  opened,  and  inspectors  have  been 
appointed  to  see  that  the  instruction  does  not  degenerate  into 
vain  and  sterile  examinations.  The  lycees  and  the  secondary 
schools  are  filling  with  youth  eager  for  instruction.  The  poly- 
technic school  is  peopling  our  arsenals,  ports,  and  factories 
with  useful  citizens.  Prizes  have  been  established  in  various 
branches  of  science,  letters,  and  arts,  and  in  the  period  of  ten 
years  fixed  by  his  Majesty  for  the  award  of  these  prizes  there 
can  be  no  doubt  that  French  genius  will  produce  works  of 
distinction. 
Manufactures  The  emperor's  decrees  have  reestablished  commerce  on  the 
left  bank  of  the  Rhine.  Our  manufacturers  are  improving, 
although  the  mercenaries  subsidized  by  the  British  govern- 
ment vaunt,  in  their  empty  declamations,  her  foreign  trade  and 
her  precarious  resources  scattered  about  the  seas  and  in  the 
Indies,  while  they  describe  our  shops  as  deserted  and  our  arti- 
sans as  dying  of  hunger.  In  spite  of  this,  our  industries  are 
striking  root  in  our  own  soil  and  are  driving  English  commerce 
far  from  our  shores.  Our  products  now  equal  theirs  and  will 
soon  compete  with  them  in  all  the  markets  of  the  world. 

Religion  has  resumed  its  sway,  but  exhibits  itself  only  in 
acts  of  humanity.    Adhering   to  a  wise  policy  of   toleration, 


Europe  and  Napoleon  337 

the  ministers  of  different  sects  who  worship  the  same  God  do 
themselves  honor  by  their  mutual  respect ;  and  their  rivalry- 
confines  itself  to  emulation  in  virtue.  Such  is  our  situation 
at  home. 

After  the  rupture  of  the  Peace  of  Amiens,  Napoleon 
collected  an  army  at  Boulogne  with  the  declared  pur- 
pose of  making  a  descent  upon  England.  After  some 
months  of  preparation  and  waiting,  the  soldiers  became 
very  impatient  to  attempt  the  undertaking,  in  spite  of 
the  many  difficulties  which  had  become  apparent. 

Soldiers  and  sailors  were  burning  with  impatience  to  embark  155.  impa- 

for   England,  but   the   moment  so  ardently  desired  was  still  tience  of  the 

delayed.    Every  evening  they  said  to  themselves,  "To-morrow  invade  Eng- 

there  will  be  a  good  wind,  there  will  also  be  a  fog,  and  we  shall  land  in 

start."    They  lay  down  with  that  hope,  but  arose  each  day  to  "^"^"®^' 

c    A     -.x.  y      A    A     ^  •  '^°5-    (From 

find  either  an  uncloudea  sky  or  ram.  Constant's 

One  evening,  however,  when  a  favorable  wind  was  blowing.  Memoirs) 
I  heard  two  sailors  conversing  together  on  the  wharf  and  mak- 
ing conjectures  as  to  the  future.  "  The  emperor  would  do  well 
to  start  to-morrow  morning,"  said  one.  "  He  will  never  have 
better  weather  and  there  will  surely  be  a  fog."  "Yes,"  said 
the  other,  "  only  he  does  not  think  so.  We  have  now  waited 
more  than  fifteen  days,  and  the  fleet  has  not  budged.  How- 
ever, all  the  ammunition  is  on  board,  and  with  one  blast  of  the 
whistle  we  can  put  to  sea." 

The  night  sentinels  came  on,  and  the  conversation  of  the 
old  sea  wolves  stopped  there.  But  I  soon  had  to  acknowledge 
that  their  nautical  experience  had  not  deceived  them.  In  fact, 
by  three  o'clock  in  the  morning  a  light  fog  was  spread  over  the 
sea,  which  was  somewhat  stormy ;  the  wind  of  the  evening 
before  began  to  blow  again,  and  at  daylight  the  fog  was  so 
thick  as  to  conceal  the  fleet  from  the  English,  while  the  most 
profound  silence  reigned  everywhere.  No  hostile  sails  had 
been  signaled  through  the  night,  and,  as  the  sailors  had  pre- 
dicted, everything  favored  the  descent.  At  five  o'clock  in  the 
morning  signals  were  made  from  the  semaphore,  and  in  the 


338  Readings  in  Modern  European  History 

twinkling  of  an  eye  all  the  sailors  were  in  motion  and  the  ports 
resounded  with  cries  of  joy,  for  the  order  to  depart  had  just 
been  received. 

While  the  sails  were  being  hoisted  the  long  roll  was  beaten 
in  the  four  camps,  and  the  order  was  given  for  the  entire  army 
to  take  arms.  They  marched  rapidly  into  the  town,  hardly 
believing  what  they  had  just  heard.  "  We  are  really  going  to 
start,"  said  all  the  soldiers  ;  "  we  are  actually  going  to  say  a 
few  words  to  those  Englishmen";  and  the  joy  which  animated 
them  burst  forth  in  acclamations  which  were  silenced  by  a  roll 
of  the  drums.  The  embarkation  then  took  place  amid  pro- 
found silence,  and  in  such  perfect  order  that  I  can  scarcely 
give  an  idea  of  it.  At  seven  o'clock  two  hundred  thousand  sol- 
diers were  on  board  the  fleet ;  and  when,  a  little  after  midday, 
this  fine  army  was  on  the  point  of  starting,  amidst  the  adieus 
and  good  wishes  of  the  whole  city,  assembled  upon  the  walls 
and  upon  the  surrounding  cliffs,  and  at  the  very  moment  when 
all  the  soldiers,  standing  with  uncovered  heads,  were  about  to 
bid  farewell  to  the  soil  of  France,  crying,  "  Vive  I'empereur  !  " 
a  message  arrived  from  the  imperial  barracks  ordering  the 
troops  to  disembark  and  return  to  camp.  A  telegraphic  dis- 
patch just  received  by  his  Majesty  announced  that  it  was  neces- 
sary that  he  should  move  his  troops  in  another  direction  ;  and 
the  soldiers  returned  sadly  to  their  quarters,  some  expressing 
in  loud  tones  and  in  a  very  energetic  manner  the  disappoint- 
ment which  this  species  of  mystification  caused  them.  They 
had  always  regarded  the  success  of  the  enterprise  against  Eng- 
land as  assured,  and  to  find  themselves  stopped  on  the  eve  of 
departure  was,  in  their  eyes,  the  greatest  misfortune  which 
could  happen  to  them. 

When  order  had  again  been  restored  the  emperor  repaired 
to  the  camp  of  the  right  wing  and  made  a  proclamation  to  the 
troops,  which  was  sent  into  the  other  camps,  and  posted  every- 
where. This  was  approximately  the  tenor  of  it :  "  Brave  sol- 
diers of  the  camp  of  Boulogne,  you  will  not  go  to  England. 
English  gold  has  seduced  the  emperor  of  Austria,  who  has  just 
declared  war  against  France.  His  army  has  just  passed  the 
Rhine,  which  he  should  have  respected,  and  Bavaria  is  invaded. 


Europe  and  Napoleon  339 

Soldiers,  new  victories  await  you  beyond  the  Rhine.  Let  us 
hasten  to  defeat  once  more  the  enemies  whom  you  have  already 
conquered."  This  proclamation  called  forth  unanimous  accla- 
mations of  joy,  and  every  face  brightened,  for  it  mattered  little 
to  these  intrepid  men  whether  they  were  led  against  Austria  or 
England ;  they  simply  thirsted  for  the  fray,  and  now  that  war 
had  been  declared  every  desire  was  gratified. 

Thus  vanished  all  those  grand  projects  of  descent  upon  Eng- 
land which  had  been  so  long  matured,  so  wisely  planned. 

After  breaking  camp  at  Boulogne,  Napoleon  hurried 
into  Germany.  He  surrounded  and  captured  the  Aus- 
trian army  at  Ulm  in  October.  Six  weeks  later  he 
defeated  the  combined  forces  of  the  Austrians  and  Rus- 
sians in  the  memorable  battle  of  Austerlitz.  After  this 
victory  he  issued  the  following  proclamation. 

Soldiers,  I  am  satisfied  with  you.    In  the  battle  of  Austerlitz  156.  Napo- 
you  have  justified  what  I  expected  from  your  intrepidity.    You  |^°^-Q/J°^iis 
have  covered  yourselves  with  eternal  glory.    An  army  of  one  soldiers  after 
hundred  thousand  men  which  was  commanded  by  the  emperors  Austerlitz 
of  Russia  and  Austria  has  been,  in  less  than  four  hours,  either 
cut  off  or  dispersed.    Those  that  escaped  your  swords  have 
thrown  themselves  into  the  lakes.    Forty  stands  of  colors,  the 
stands  of  the  Russian  imperial  guard,  one  hundred  and  twenty 
pieces  of  cannon,  twenty  generals,  and  above  thirty  thousand 
prisoners  are  the  fruits  of  this  ever-memorable  battle.    Their 
infantry,  so  celebrated  and  so  superior  to  you  in  numbers,  has 
proved  unable  to  resist  your  charge,  and  henceforth  you  have 
no  rivals  to  fear. 

Thus  in  less  than  two  months  the  third  coalition  is  conquered 
and  dissolved.  Peace  cannot  be  far  off ;  but,  as  I  promised  my 
people  before  crossing  the  Rhine,  I  will  conclude  it  only  upon 
terms  consistent  with  my  pledge,  which  shall  secure  not  only 
the  indemnification,  but  the  reward,  of  my  allies. 

Soldiers,  when  the  French  people  placed  the  imperial  crown 
upon  my  head  I  trusted  to  you  to  enable  me  to  maintain  it  in 
that  splendor  of  glory  which  could  alone  give  it  value  in  my 


340  Readings  m  Modern  Enropea7i  History 

estimation.  But  at  that  moment  our  enemies  entertained  the 
design  of  tarnishing  and  degrading  it ;  and  the  iron  crown, 
which  was  gained  by  the  blood  of  so  many  Frenchmen,  they 
would  have  compelled  me  to  place  on  the  head  of  my  bitterest 
foe,  —  an  extravagant  and  foolish  proposal,  which  you  have 
brought  to  naught  on  the  anniversary  of  your  emperor's  coro- 
nation. You  have  taught  them  that  it  is  easier  for  them  to 
defy  and  to  threaten  than  to  subdue  us. 

Soldiers,  when  everything  necessary  to  the  security,  the  hap- 
piness, and  the  prosperity  of  our  country  has  been  achieved, 
I  will  return  you  my  thanks  in  France.  Then  will  you  be  the 
objects  of  my  tenderest  care.  My  people  will  receive  you 
with  rapture  and  joy.  To  say  to  me,  "  I  was  in  the  battle  of 
Austerlitz,"  will  be  enough  to  authorize  the  reply,  "That  is 

a  brave  man."  t.. 

Napoleon 

Headquarters  at  Austerlitz 
December  3,  1805 

Section  4J.    Napoleon  destroys  the  Holy  Roma7i  Empi^^e 
and  reorganizes  Germajiy 

Napoleon's  In  HO  country  of  Europe  were  the  effects  of  Napo- 
German"y  ^^on's  poHcy  more  striking  and  permanent  than  in  Ger- 
many. The  cession  of  the  left  bank  of  the  Rhine  to 
France  by  the  Treaty  of  Luneville  (1801)  brought  with 
it  a  complete  reconstruction  of  the  remainder  of  Ger- 
many, since  the  dispossessed  princes  were  to  be  indem- 
nified with  lands  within  the  empire.  Accordingly  the 
ecclesiastical  states  and  the  free  imperial  towns,  once  so 
important  among  the  German  states,  were,  with  a  few 
exceptions,  incorporated  into  the  territories  of  neighbor- 
ing secular  princes  by  the  great  Imperial  Recess  of 
1803.  The  little  holdings  of  the  knights  were  quietly 
absorbed  by  the  new  "sovereigns"  within  whose  terri- 
tories they  happened  to  lie.    The  map  of  Germany  was 


Europe  and  Napoleon  341 

thus  much  simpHfied,  and  the  ancient  and  hopeless  sub- 
division of  Germany  greatly  diminished. 

Napoleon  had  no  desire  to  unify  Germany,  but  wished 
to  have  several  independent  states,  or  groups  of  states, 
which  he  could  conveniently  bring  under  his  control. 
Consequently,  when  it  came  to  arranging  the  Treaty  of 
Pressburg  after  his  great  victory  at  Austerlitz,  Napoleon 
forced  the  defeated  emperor  to  recognize  the  rulers  of 
Wiirtemberg  and  Bavaria  as  "kings"  and  the  elector 
of  Baden  as  enjoying  "the  plenitude  of  sovereignty." 
In  short,  he  proposed  that  the  three  most  important 
princes  of  southern  Germany  should  be  as  independent 
as  the  king  of  Prussia  or  the  emperor  himself,  and  that, 
moreover,  they  should  owe  their  elevation  to  him.  He 
then  formed  a  union  of  these  new  sovereigns  and  of 
other  German  rulers,  which  was  called  the  Confedera- 
tion of  the  Rhine.  In  the  rather  insolent  message  given 
below  he  informs  the  diet  of  the  empire  that  the  new 
union,  of  which  he  is  to  be  the  protector,  will  be  incom- 
patible with  the  continued  existence  of  the  venerable 
Holy  Roman  Empire. 

The  undersigned,  charge  d'affaires  of  his  Majesty  the  em-  157.  Napo- 

peror  of  the  French  and  king  of  Italy,  at  the  general  diet  of  leon  informs 
-1  •       1         1  r  ?  •     TV  /r    •  the  German 

the  German  empire,  has  received  orders  from  his  Majesty  to  diet  of  the 

make  the  following  declarations  to  the  diet :  formation  of 

Their  Majesties  the  kings  of  Bavaria  and  of  \\  urtemberg,  the  ^^^^^^^l^^^' 

sovereign  princes  of  Ratisbon,  Baden,  Burg,  Hesse-Darmstadt,  Rhine 

and  Nassau,  as  well  as  the  other  leading  princes  ^  of  the  south  (August  i, 

and  west  of  Germany,  have  resolved  to  form  a  confederation 

between  themselves  which  shall  secure  them   against  future 

contingencies,  and  have  thus  ceased  to  be  states  of  the  empire. 

1  The  confederation  was  joined  from  time  to  time  by  many  more 
German  states. 


342  Readings  in  Modern  European  History 

The  position  in  which  the  Treaty  of  Pressburg  has  expHcitly 
placed  the  courts  alHed  to  France,  and  indirectly  those  princes 
whose  territory  they  border  or  surround,  being  incompatible 
with  the  existence  of  an  empire,  it  becomes  a  necessity  for 
those  rulers  to  reorganize  their  relations  upon  a  new  system 
and  to  remove  a  contradiction  which  could  not  fail  to  be  a 
permanent  source  of  agitation,  disquiet,  and  danger. 

France,  on  the  other  hand,  is  directly  interested  in  the  main- 
tenance of  peace  in  southern  Germany  and  yet  must  apprehend 
that  the  moment  she  shall  cause  her  troops  to  recross  the  Rhine 
discord,  the  inevitable  consequence  of  contradictory,  uncertain, 
and  ill-defined  conditions,  will  again  disturb  the  peace  of  the 
people  and  reopen,  possibly,  the  war  on  the  Continent.  Feeling 
it  incumbent  upon  her  to  advance  the  welfare  of  her  allies  and 
to  assure  them  the  enjoyment  of  all  the  advantages  which  the 
Treaty  of  Pressburg  secures  to  them,  and  to  w^hich  she  is  pledged, 
France  cannot  but  regard  the  confederation  which  they  have 
formed  as  a  natural  result  and  a  necessary  sequel  to  that  treaty. 
Sad  decline  For  a  long  period  successive  changes  have,  from  century  to 
of  the  Holy  century,  reduced  the  German  constitution  to  a  shadow  of  its 
E^^ir"  former  self.  Time  has  altered  all  the  relations,  in  respect  to 
size  and  importance,  which  originally  existed  among  the  various 
members  of  the  confederation,  both  as  regards  each  other  and 
the  whole  of  which  they  have  formed  a  part. 

The  diet  has  no  longer  a  will  of  its  own ;  the  sentences  of 
the  superior  courts  can  no  longer  be  executed ;  everything 
indicates  such  serious  weakness  that  the  federal  bond  no  longer 
offers  any  protection  w^hatever  and  only  constitutes  a  source  of 
dissension  and  discord  between  the  powers.  The  results  of  three 
coalitions  have  increased  this  w^eakness  to  the  last  degree.  .  .  . 
The  Treaty  of  Pressburg  assures  complete  sovereignty  to  their 
Majesties  the  kings  of  Bavaria  and  of  Wiirtemberg  and  to  his 
Highness  the  elector  of  Baden.  This  is  a  prerogative  which 
the  other  electors  will  doubtless  demand,  and  which  they  are 
justified  in  demanding ;  but  this  is  in  harmony  neither  with  the 
letter  nor  the  spirit  of  the  constitution  of  the  empire. 

His  Majesty  the  emperor  and  king  is,  therefore,  compelled 
to  declare  that  he  can  no  longer  acknowledge  the  existence  of 


Europe  and  Napoleo7i  343 

the  German  constitution,  recognizing,  however,  the  entire  and 
absolute  sovereignty  of  each  of  the  princes  whose  states  com- 
pose Germany  to-day,  maintaining  with  them  the  same  relations 
as  with  the  other  independent  powers  of  Europe. 

His  Majesty  the  emperor  and  king  has  accepted  the  title  of 
Protector  of  the  Confederation  of  the  Rhine.  He  has  done  this 
only  with  a  view  to  peace  and  in  order  that  by  his  constant 
mediation  between  the  weak  and  the  powerful  he  may  obviate 
every  species  of  dissension  and  disorder. 

Having  thus  provided  for  the  dearest  interests  of  his  people 
and  of  his  neighbors,  and  having  assured,  so  far  as  in  him  lay, 
the  future  peace  of  Europe,  and  that  of  Germany  in  particular, 
heretofore  constantly  the  theater  of  war,  by  removing  a  contra- 
diction which  placed  people  and  princes  alike  under  the  delu- 
sive protection  of  a  system  contrary  both  to  their  political 
interests  and  to  their  treaties,  his  Majesty  the  emperor  and 
king  trusts  that  the  nations  of  Europe  will  at  last  close  their 
ears  to  the  insinuations  of  those  who  would  maintain  an  eternal 
war  upon  the  Continent.  He  trusts  that  the  French  armies 
w^hich  have  crossed  the  Rhine  have  done  so  for  the  last  time, 
and  that  the  people  of  Germany  will  no  longer  witness,  except  in 
the  annals  of  the  past,  the  horrible  pictures  of  disorder,  devasta- 
tion, and  slaughter  which  war  invariably  brings  with  it. 

His  Majesty  declared  that  he  would  never  extend  the  limits 
of  France  beyond  the  Rhine  and  he  has  been  faithful  to  his 
promise.  At  present  his  sole  desire  is  so  to  employ  the  means 
which  Providence  has  confided  to  him  as  to  free  the  seas,  restore 
the  liberty  of  commerce,  and  thus  assure  the  peace  and  happi- 
ness  of  the  world.  g^^^^^ 

Ratisbon,  August  I,  1806 

After  the  Treaty  of  Pressburg  and  the  formation  of 
the  Confederation  of  the  Rhine  there  was  really  nothing 
for  the  Emperor  to  do  except  to  lay  down  —  which  he 
did  with  some  relief  —  the  imperial  crown  which  had 
belonged  to  his  House  with  few  intermissions  since  the 
times  of  Rudolf  of  Hapsburg. 


344  Readings  in  Modern  European  History 

158.  The  We^  Francis  the  SecoJid,  by  the  grace  of  God  Roman  emperor 

abdication  elect,  ever  august,  hereditary  e7nperor  of  Austria,  etc.,  king 

Roman  ^f  Gerf?tany,  Hungary,  Bohemia,  Croatia,  Dalmatia,  Sla- 

emperor  7'0?iia,    Galicia,   LodoDieria,    afid  ferusalem ;    archduke   of 

(August  6,        Austria,  etc. 

1806)  ' 

Since  the  Peace  of  Pressburg  all  our  care  and  attention  have 
been  directed  towards  the  scrupulous  fulfillment  of  all  engage- 
ments contracted  by  the  said  treaty,  as  well  as  the  preservation 
of  peace,  so  essential  to  the  happiness  of  our  subjects,  and  the 
strengthening  in  every  way  of  the  friendly  relations  which  have 
been  happily  reestablished.  We  could  but  await  the  outcome 
of  events  in  order  to  determine  whether  the  important  changes 
in  the  German  Empire  resulting  from  the  terms  of  the  peace 
would  allow  us  to  fulfill  the  weighty  duties  which,  in  view  of 
the  conditions  of  our  election,  devolve  upon  us  as  the  head 
of  the  Empire.  But  the  results  of  certain  articles  of  the  Treaty 
of  Pressburg,  which  showed  themselves  immediately  after  its 
publication  and  since  that  time,  as  well  as  the  events  which,  as 
is  generally  known,  have  taken  place  in  the  German  Empire, 
have  convinced  us  that  it  would  be  impossible  under  these 
circumstances  further  to  fulfill  the  duties  which  we  assumed  by 
the  conditions  of  our  election.  Even  if  the  prompt  readjust- 
ment of  existing  political  complications  might  produce  an  alter- 
ation in  the  existing  conditions,  the  convention  signed  at  Paris, 
July  12,  and  approved  later  by  the  contracting  parties,  provid- 
ing for  the  complete  separation  of  several  important  states  of 
the  empire  and  their  union  into  a  separate  confederation,  would 
utterly  destroy  any  such  hope. 

Thus  convinced  of  the  utter  impossibility  of  longer  fulfilling 
the  duties  of  our  imperial  office,  we  owe  it  to  our  principles  and 
to  our  honor  to  renounce  a  crown  which  could  only  retain  any 
value  in  our  eyes  so  long  as  we  were  in  a  position  to  justify 
the  confidence  reposed  in  us  by  the  electors,  princes,  estates, 
and  other  members  of  the  German  Empire,  and  to  fulfill  the 
duties  devolving  upon  us. 

We  proclaim,  accordingly,  that  we  consider  the  ties  which 
have  hitherto  united  us  to  the  body  politic  of  the  German  Em- 
pire as  hereby  dissolved  ;  that  we  regard  the  office  and  dignity 


Europe  and  Napoleo7i  345 

of  the  imperial  headship  as  extinguished  by  the  formation  of 
a  separate  union  of  the  Rhenish  states,  and  regard  ourselves 
as  thereby  freed  from  all  our  obhgations  toward  the  German 
Empire;  herewith  laying  down  the  imperial  crown  which  is 
associated  with  these  obligations,  and  relinquishing  the  imperial 
government  which  we  have  hitherto  conducted. 

We  free  at  the  same  time  the  electors,  princes,  and  estates, 
and  all  others  belonging  to  the  Empire,  particularly  the  mem- 
bers of  the  supreme  imperial  courts  and  other  magistrates  of 
the  Empire,  from  the  duties  constitutionally  due  to  us  as  the 
lawful  head  of  the  Empire.  Conversely,  we  free  all  our  German 
provinces  and  imperial  lands  from  all  their  obligations  of  what- 
ever kind  toward  the  German  Empire.  In  uniting  these,  as 
emperor  of  Austria,  with  the  whole  body  of  the  Austrian  state 
we  shall  strive,  with  the  restored  and  existing  peaceful  relations 
with  all  the  powers  and  neighboring  states,  to  raise  them  to  the 
height  of  prosperity  and  happiness  which  is  our  keenest  desire 
and  the  aim  of  our  constant  and  sincerest  efforts. 

Done  at  our  capital  and  royal  residence,  Vienna,  August  6, 
1806,  in  the  fifteenth  year  of  our  reign  as  emperor  and  hereditary 
ruler  of  the  Austrian  lands.  "  Francis 


Section  44.    The  Continental  Blockade 

At  least  as  early  as  1796  the  French  government 
conceived  the  idea  of  forcing  its  English  enemy  to  cry 
for  peace  by  ruining  her  commerce.  This  became  a 
cherished  policy  of  Napoleon  after  he  had  given  up  the 
idea  of  invading  England.  After  his  great  victory  over 
Prussia  at  Jena  he  felt  that  the  time  had  come  to  put 
into  execution  his  project  of  excluding  England  from 
the  Continent.  England  had  given  him  an  excuse  for 
the  Berlin  Decree  given  below  by  declaring  the  coast 
from  the  river  Elbe  to  Brest  in  a  state  of  blockade 
(May,  1806). 


34^  Readings  i7i  Moderji  Eiiropea7i  History 


From  our  Imperial  Camp  at  Berlin 
November  21,  1806 


159.  The  Ber- 
lin Decree 
(November 
21,  1806) 
(Extracts) 


Napoleon,  emperor  of  the  French  and  king  of  Italy,  in  con- 
sideration of  the  facts  : 

1 .  That  England  does  not  recognize  the  system  of  interna- 
tional law  universally  observed  by  all  civilized  nations. 

2.  That  she  regards  as  an  enemy  every  individual  belonging 
to  the  enemy's  state,  and  consequently  makes  prisoners  of  war 
not  only  of  the  crews  of  armed  ships  of  war  but  of  the  crews  of 
ships  of  commerce  and  merchantmen,  and  even  of  commercial 
agents  and  of  merchants  traveling  on  business. 

3.  That  she  extends  to  the  vessels  and  commercial  wares, 
and  to  the  property  of  individuals,  the  right  of  conquest  which 
is  applicable  only  to  the  possessions  of  the  belligerent  power. 

4.  That  she  extends  to  unfortified  towns  and  commercial 
ports,  to  harbors  and  the  mouths  of  rivers,  the  right  of  blockade, 
which,  in  accordance  with  reason  and  the  customs  of  all  civilized 
nations,  is  applicable  only  to  strong  places.  .  .  .  That  she  has 
declared  districts  in  a  state  of  blockade  which  all  her  united 
forces  would  be  unable  to  blockade,  such  as  entire  coasts  and 
the  whole  of  an  empire. 

5.  That  this  monstrous  abuse  of  the  right  of  blockade  has 
no  other  aim  than  to  prevent  communication  among  the  nations 
and  to  raise  the  commerce  and  the  industry  of  England  upon 
the  ruins  of  that  of  the  Continent.   .  .  . 

8.  That  it  is  a  natural  right  to  employ  such  arms  against  an 
enemy  as  he  himself  makes  use  of,  and  to  combat  in  the  same 
way  as  he  combats.  Since  England  has  disregarded  all  ideas  of 
justice  and  every  high  sentiment  implied  by  civilization  among 
mankind,  we  have  resolved  to  apply  to  her  the  usages  which 
she  has  ratified  in  her  maritime  legislation. 

The  provisions  of  the  present  decree  shall  continue  to  be 
looked  upon  as  embodying  the  fundamental  principles  of  the 
empire  until  England  shall  recognize  that  the  law  of  war  is 
one  and  the  same  on  land  and  on  sea,  and  that  the  rights  of  war 
cannot  be  extended  so  as  to  include  private  property  of  any  kind 
or  the  persons  of  individuals  unconnected  with  the  profession 


Eiirope  a?td  Napoleon  347 

of  arms,  and  that  the  right  of  blockade  shall  be  restricted  to 
fortified  places  actually  invested  by  sufficient  forces. 

We  have  consequently  decreed  and  do  decree  that  which 
follows. 

Article  I.  The  British  Isles  are  declared  to  be  in  a  state 
of  blockade. 

II.  All  commerce  and  all  correspondence  with  the  British 
Isles  is  forbidden.  Consequently,  letters  or  packages  directed 
to  England,  or  to  an  Englishman,  or  written  in  the  English 
language,  shall  not  pass  through  the  mails  and  shall  be  seized. 

III.  Every  individual  who  is  an  English  subject,  of  whatever 
state  or  condition  he  may  be,  who  shall  be  discovered  in  any 
country  occupied  by  our  troops  or  by  those  of  our  allies,  shall 
be  made  a  prisoner  of  war. 

IV.  All  warehouses,  merchandise,  or  property  of  whatever 
kind  belonging  to  a  subject  of  England  shall  be  regarded  as  a 
lawful  prize. 

V.  Trade  in  English  goods  is  prohibited,  and  all  goods  be- 
longing to  England  or  coming  from  her  factories  or  her  colonies 
are  declared  a  lawful  prize.  .  .  . 

VII.  No  vessel  coming  directly  from  England  or  from  the 
English  colonies,  or  which  shall  have  visited  these  since  the  pub- 
lication of  the  present  decree,  shall  be  received  in  any  port. 

VIII.  Any  vessel  contravening  the  above  provision  by  a 
false  declaration  shall  be  seized,  and  the  vessel  and  cargo  shall 
be  confiscated  as  if  it  were  English  property.  .  .  . 

X.  The  present  decree  shall  be  communicated  by  our  min- 
ister of  foreign  affairs  to  the  kings  of  Spain,  of  Naples,  of 
Holland,  and  of  Etruria,  and  to  our  other  allies  whose  subjects, 
like  ours,  are  the  victims  of  the  unjust  and  barbarous  maritime 

legislation  of  England. 

(Signed)        Napoleon 

On  November  11,  1807,  after  news  of  the  Treaty  of 
Tilsit  had  reached  the  English  government,  it  replied  by 
an  order  in  council  establishing  an  undisguised  "paper" 
blockade.  This,  in  spite  of  some  alleged  merciful  excep- 
tions, vv^as  almost  a  prohibition  of  neutral  trading  such 


348  Readings  in  Modern  European  History 

as  that  carried  on  by  the  United  States,  and  President 
Jefferson  ordered  the  first  embargo,  December  22,  1807, 
as  a  retahatory  measure.  Napoleon  repHed  to  England's 
measures  by  issuing  his  brief  and  cogent  Milan  Decree. 

At  our  Royal  Palace  at  Milan,  December  17,  1807 

160.  The  Napoleon,  emperor  of  the  French,  king  of  Italy,  protector 

Milan  Decree  q£  ^j^^  Confederation  of  the  Rhine.    In  view  of  the  measures 

(December 

17, 1807)         adopted  by  the  British  government  on  the  nth  of  November 

last,  by  which  vessels  belonging  to  powers  which  are  neutral, 
or  are  friendly  to,  and  even  allied  with,  England,  are  rendered 
liable  to  be  searched  by  British  cruisers,  detained  at  certain  sta- 
tions in  England,  and  subject  to  an  arbitrary  tax  of  a  certain  per 
cent  upon  their  cargo,  to  be  regulated  by  English  legislation  :  ^ 
Considering  that  by  these  acts  the  English  government  has 
denationalized  the  vessels  of  all  the  nations  of  Europe,  and  that 
no  government  may  compromise  in  any  degree  its  independ- 
ence or  its  rights  by  submitting  to  such  demands,  —  all  the 
rulers  of  Europe  being  jointly  responsible  for  the  sovereignty 
and  independence  of  their  flags,  —  and  that,  if  through  un- 
pardonable weakness,  which  would  be  regarded  by  posterity  as 
an  indelible  stain,  such  tyranny  should  be  admitted  and  become 
consecrated  by  custom,  the  English  would  take  steps  to  give  it 
the  force  of  law,  as  they  have  already  taken  advantage  of  the 

1  The  tax  imposed  by  England  upon  the  cargoes  of  neutral  ships, 
which  is  referred  to  in  the  Milan  Decree,  is  not  found  in  the  orders  of 
November  ii,  as  Napoleon  implies.  The  tax  was,  however,  a  stern 
reality,  whatever  may  have  been  its  formal  origin.  Professor  McMaster 
gives  an  account  of  the  practical  workings  of  the  system,  so  far  as 
American  ships  were  concerned,  which  he  takes  from  the  Baltimore 
Evening  Post  of  September  2  and  27,  1808.  The  newspaper  estimates 
that  on  her  outward  voyage,  let  us  say  to  Holland,  with  four  hundred 
hogsheads  of  tobacco,  an  American  ship  would  pay  England  one  and 
one-half  pence  per  pound  on  the  tobacco  and  twelve  shillings  for  each 
ton  of  the  ship.  With  $100  for  the  license  and  sundry  other  dues,  the 
total  amounted  to  toward  ^13,000.  On  the  home  voyage,  with  a  cargo, 
let  us  say,  of  Holland  gin,  the  American  trader  paid  perhaps  |i6,5oo, 
making  the  total  charges  paid  to  Great  Britain  for  a  single  voyage  ^31,000 
{History  of  the  People  of  the  United  States,  Vol.  HI,  pp.  308-309). 


Europe  and  Napoleo7i  349 

toleration  of  the  governments  to  establish  the  infamous  prin- 
ciple that  the  flag  does  not  cover  the  goods,  and  to  give  the 
right  of  blockade  an  arbitrary  extension  which  threatens  the 
sovereignty  of  every  state  : 

We  have  decreed  and  do  decree  as  follows  : 
Article  I.    Every  vessel,  of  whatever  nationality,  which  shall 
submit  to  be  searched  by  an  English  vessel,  or  shall  consent  to  a 
voyage  to  England,  or  shall  pay  any  tax  whatever  to  the  Eng-     . 
lish  government,  is  ipso  facto  declared  denationalized,  loses  the 
protection  afforded  by  its  flag,  and  becomes  English  property. 

II.  Should  these  vessels  which  are  thus  denationalized  through 
the  arbitrary  measures  of  the  English  government  enter  our  ports 
or  those  of  our  allies,  or  fall  into  the  hands  of  our  ships  of  war 
or  of  our  privateers,  they  shall  be  regarded  as  good  and  law- 
ful prizes. 

III.  The  British  Isles  are  proclaimed  to  be  in  a  state  of 
blockade  both  by  land  and  by  sea.  Every  vessel,  of  whatever 
nation  or  whatever  may  be  its  cargo,  that  sails  from  the  ports 
of  England,  or  from  those  of  the  English  colonies,  or  of  coun- 
tries occupied  by  English  troops,  or  is  destined  for  England,  or 
for  any  of  the  English  colonies,  or  any  country  occupied  by 
English  troops,  becomes,  by  violating  the  present  decree,  a  law- 
ful prize,  and  may  be  captured  by  our  ships  of  war  and  adjudged 
to  the  captor.  .  .   . 

Pasquier,  in  his  Memoirs^  makes  the  following  admi- 
rable criticism  of  Napoleon's  continental  system. 

[Napoleon's  unwise  severity  after  the  battle  of  Jena]  was  161.  A  con- 
nothing  compared  to  a  measure  adopted  in  the  hour  of  intoxi-  temporary's 
cation  of  victory,  and  which,  by  erecting  an  insurmountable  Napoleon's 
barrier,  so  to  speak,  between  France  and  England,  condemned  continental 
each  of  these  two  powers  to  entertain  no  hopes  of  peace  and  ^^^  ®°^ 
rest  until  its  rival  was  completely  destroyed.  .  .  . 

Napoleon  flattered  himself  with  the  idea  of  having  found 
the  means  to  deal  a  blow  at  his  most  deadly  opponent  in  the 
matter  nearest  his  heart.  Seeing  himself  master  of  the  greater 
part  of  the  European  coast,  or  at  least  enjoying  a  domination 


350  Readings  iji  Moder?i  European  History 

over  the  mouths  of  the  principal  rivers  of  Germany,  he  per- 
suaded himself  that  it  depended  on  him  to  close  all  Europe's 
markets  to  England  and  thus  compel  her  to  accept  peace  from 
him  at  his  own  terms.  The  conception  was  no  doubt  a  grand 
one,  and  the  measure  was  no  more  iniquitous  than  that  of 
England,  but  the  difference  lay  in  the  fact  that  the  latter,  in 
her  pretensions  to  a  blockade,  was  not  undertaking  anything 
beyond  her  strength,  and  did  not  stand  in  need  of  any  other 
nation's  cooperation  to  carry  it  out. 

France,  on  the  contrary,  was  entering  upon  an  undertaking 
which  could  not  be  put  into  execution  without  the  voluntary  or 
enforced  cooperation  of  all  the  European  powers.  It  was  there- 
fore sufficient,  in  order  to  render  it  fruitless,  —  and  the  future 
went  to  prove  this,  —  that  a  single  one  of  these  powers,  unable 
to  submit  to  the  privations  imposed  upon  it,  should  either  an- 
nounce its  firm  determination  not  to  lend  a  hand  in  the  matter, 
or  should  be  content  with  finding  ways  of  eluding  it.  .  .  . 

Not  only  was  England  in  a  position  to  supply  the  continent 
with  the  numerous  products  of  her  industry,  but  she  also  con- 
trolled almost  the  entirety  of  all  colonial  wares  and  provisions. 
Hence  it  would  become  necessary,  in  the  first  place,  to  have 
r^ourse  to  all  possible  means  calculated  to  make  continental 
industry  supply  that  which  English  industry  would  no  longer 
furnish.  In  the  second  place,  with  regard  to  colonial  products, 
some  of  which,  such  as  sugar  and  coffee,  were  almost  indis- 
pensable necessaries  of  life,  and  others  of  which  were  the  actual 
raw  material  on  which  depended  the  manufactures  which  it 
was  proposed  to  create,  it  was  necessary  to  devise  a  means 
for  allowing  them  the  right  of  entry,  but  in  a  proportion  calcu- 
lated on  the  strictest  necessity,  and,  if  possible,  by  means  of  an 
exchange  favorable  to  the  natural  products  of  the  continent. 

So  it  happened  that  through  the  most  persevering  and  at 
times  the  most  ingenious  efforts,  by  the  aid  of  a  succession  of 
decrees,  and  with  the  help  of  that  strange  invention  of  licenses 
which  were  nothing  but  organized  smuggling,  continental  indus- 
try, or  rather  French  industry,  backed  up  with  a  million  bayonets 
and  with  an  auxiliary  force  of  coast  guards,  succeeded  in  meet- 
ing a  tremendous  competition  and  in  deriving  large  profits. 


Eu7'ope  and  A^apoleon  351 

Section  4.^.    Napoleon  at  the  Zenith  of  his  Power 
{1808-1812) 

Napoleon  found  no  difficulty  in  discovering  divine 
sanction  for  his  power.  A  catechism  drawn  up  during 
the  reign  of  Louis  XIV  by  the  distinguished  French 
prelate,  Bossuet,  was  hunted  up  and  certain  modifica- 
tions made  to  adapt  it  to  the  times.  The  following 
questions  and  answers  deal  with  the  duties  of  French 
citizens  towards  their  ruler. 

Questio7i.    What  are  the  duties  of  Christians  toward  those  162.  Extracts 

who  govern  them,  and  what  in  particular  are  our  duties  towards  ^^°™  *^® 
XT        1  T  t.  imperial 

Napoleon  I,  our  emperor?  catechism 

Answer.  Christians  owe  to  the  princes  who  govern  them,  (April,  1806) 
and  we  in  particular  owe  to  Napoleon  I,  our  emperor,  love, 
respect,  obedience,  fidelity,  military  service,  and  the  taxes  levied 
for  the  preservation  and  defense  of  the  empire  and  of  his  throne. 
We  also  owe  him  fervent  prayers  for  his  safety  and  for  the  spir- 
itual and  temporal  prosperity  of  the  state. 

Question.  Why  are  we  subject  to  all  these  duties  toward  our 
emperor? 

Answer.  First,  because  God,  who  has  created  empires 
and  distributes  them  according  to  his  will,  has,  by  loading 
our  emperor  with  gifts  both  in  peace  and  in  war,  established 
him  as  our  sovereign  and  made  him  the  agent  of  his  power 
and  his  image  upon  earth.  To  honor  and  serve  our  emperor 
is  therefore  to  honor  and  serve  God  himself.  Secondly,  be- 
cause our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  himself,  both  by  his  teaching  and 
his  example,  has  taught  us  what  we  owe  to  our  sovereign. 
Even  at  his  very  birth  he  obeyed  the  edict  of  Caesar  Augus- 
tus ;  he  paid  the  established  tax ;  and  while  he  commanded 
us  to  render  to  God  those  things  w^hich  belong  to  God,  he 
also  commanded  us  to  render  unto  Caesar  those  things  which 
are  Caesar's. 

Question.  Are  there  not  special  motives  which  should  attach 
us  more  closely  to  Napoleon  I,  our  emperor? 


352  Readings  in  Modern  European  History 

Afiswer.  Yes,  for  it  is  he  whom  God  has  raised  up  in  trying 
times  to  reestablish  the  public  worship  of  the  holy  religion  of 
our  fathers  and  to  be  its  protector ;  he  has  reestablished  and 
preserved  public  order  by  his  profound  and  active  wisdom ; 
he  defends  the  state  by  his  mighty  arm;  he  has  become  the 
anointed  of  the  Lord  by  the  consecration  which  he  has  received 
from  the  sovereign  pontiff,  head  of  the  Church  universal. 

Question.  What  must  we  think  of  those  who  are  wanting  in 
their  duties  toward  our  emperor? 

Answer.  According  to  the  apostle  Paul,  they  are  resisting 
the  order  established  by  God  himself,  and  render  themselves 
worthy  of  eternal  damnation.^ 

The  following  extracts  will  illustrate  the  attitude  of 
Napoleon  toward  his  vast  empire,  and  the  way  in  which 
he  undertook  to  shape  the  destinies  of  all  western  Europe. 
Enraged  by  the  refusal  of  the  Spanish  nation  to  accept 
his  brother  as  their  king,  he  invaded  the  peninsula  with 
a  large  army,  occupied  Madrid,  and  in  December,  1808, 
he  issued  the  following  proclamations. 

Imperial  Camp  at  Madrid,  December  7,  1808 

163.  Napo-  Spaniards,  you  have  been  seduced  by  perfidious  men.    They 

Icon's  proc-     \^2iwe  involved  you  in  a  mad  conflict  and  induced  you  to  rush 

lamation  to  ^       /  ,         t   ,       ,  r. 

the  Spaniards  to  arms,    is  there  one  among  you  who,  if  he  but  reflect  a 

moment  upon  all  that  has  taken  place,  will  not  be  convinced 
that  you  have  been  the  playthings  of  the  inveterate  enemy 
of  the  continent,  who  rejoices  as  she  beholds  the  shedding  of 
Spanish  and  French  blood  ?  What  could  be  the  result  of  your 
success  even  in  several  campaigns?  What  but  a  war  without 
end  and  prolonged  uncertainty  in  regard  to  your  possessions 
and  your  very  existence  ?  In  a  few  months  you  have  been  sub- 
jected to  all  the  horrors  of  popular  faction.  The  defeat  of  your 
armies  was  the  affair  of  a  few  marches.  I  have  entered  Madrid. 
The  right  of  war  authorizes  me  to  make  a  terrible  example  and 

^  Compare  Bossuet's  views  of  the  kingship  (see  above,  pp.  5  sqq). 


Europe  and  Napoleon  353 

to  wash  out  with  blood  the  outrages  committed  against  me  and 
my  nation.  But  my  only  thought  is  of  clemency.  A  few  men 
only,  the  authors  of  your  misery,  shall  suffer.  I  will  speedily 
expel  from  the  peninsula  that  English  army  which  has  been 
dispatched  to  Spain,  not  to  aid  you,  but  to  inspire  in  you  a 
false  confidence  and  to  deceive  you. 

I  informed  you  in  my  proclamation  of  June  2  that  I  wished 
to  be  your  regenerator.  But  you  have  chosen  that  I  should 
add  to  the  rights  ceded  to  me  by  your  previous  dynasty  also 
the  right  of  conquest.  But  this  has  not  in  any  way  altered  my 
attitude  toward  you.  Indeed,  I  must  praise  all  that  has  been 
generous  in  your  efforts.  I  would  recognize  that  your  true  in- 
terests have  been  obscured  and  that  you  have  been  deceived  as 
to  the  real  condition  of  affairs. 

Spaniards,  your  destiny  is  in  my  hands.  Refuse  the  poison 
which  the  English  have  spread  abroad  among  you ;  let  your 
king  be  assured  of  your  love  and  confidence  and  you  will  be 
more  powerful,  more  happy  than  you  have  ever  been.  I  have 
destroyed  everything  which  stands  in  the  way  of  your  prosperity 
and  greatness.  I  have  broken  the  fetters  which  hampered  the 
people.  I  have  given  you  a  liberal  constitution,  and,  in  the 
place  of  an  absolute,  I  have  given  you  a  limited  and  constitu- 
tional, monarchy.  It  depends  upon  you  whether  this  constitution 
shall  continue  to  govern  you.  But  if  all  my  efforts  should  prove 
useless,  and  if  you  do  not  respond  to  my  confidence,  nothing 
will  remain  for  me  except  to  treat  you  as  conquered  provinces 
and  to  place  my  brother  upon  another  throne.  I  shall  then 
put  the  crown  of  Spain  upon  my  own  head  and  I  shall  be  able 
to  make  the  wicked  respect  it,  since  God  has  given  me  the 
power  and  the  will  necessary  to  surmount  all  obstacles. 

Napoleon 

The  reforms  which  Napoleon  alludes  to  had  been 
issued  three  days  before  upon  his  arrival  in  Madrid. 
They  furnish  an  admirable  illustration  of  the  way  in 
which  the  ideas  of  the  French  Revolution  followed  his 
armies  into  the  conservative  countries  of  western  Europe. 


354  Readings  ift  Modern  Europeaii  History 


164.  Decrees 
abolishing 
feudal  dues 
in  Spain 


165.  Decree 
abolishing  the 
Inquisition 


166.  Decree 
abolishing 
monastic 
orders 


Imperial  Camp  at  Madrid,  December  4,  1808 

To  date  from  the  publication  of  the  present  decree,  feudal 
rights  are  abolished  in  Spain. 

All  personal  obligations,  all  exclusive  fishing  rights  and  other 
rights  of  similar  nature  on  the  coast  or  on  rivers  and  streams, 
all  feudal  monopolies  {banalites')  of  ovens,  mills,  and  inns  are 
suppressed.  It  shall  be  free  to  every  one  who  shall  conform  to 
the  laws  to  develop  his  industry  without  restraint. 

The  tribunal  of  the  Inquisition  is  abolished,  as  inconsistent 
with  the  civil  sovereignty  and  authority. 

The  property  of  the  Inquisition  shall  be  sequestered  and  fall 
to  the  Spanish  state,  to  serve  as  security  for  the  bonded  debt. 

Considering  that  the  members  of  the  various  monastic  orders 
have  increased  to  an  undue  degree,  and  that,  although  a  certain 
number  of  them  are  useful  in  assisting  the  ministers  of  the  altar 
in  the  administration  of  the  sacraments,  the  existence  of  too 
great  a  number  interferes  with  the  prosperity  of  the  state,  we 
have  decreed  and  do  decree  as  follows  : 

The  number  of  convents  now  in  existence  in  Spain  shall  be 
reduced  to  a  third  of  their  present  number.  This  reduction 
shall  be  accomplished  by  uniting  the  members  of  several  con- 
vents of  the  same  order  into  one. 

From  the  publication  of  the  present  decree,  no  one  shall  be 
admitted  to  the  novitiate  or  permitted  to  take  the  monastic 
vow  until  the  number  of  the  religious  of  both  sexes  has  been 
reduced  to  one  third  of  that  now  in  existence.   .  .  . 

All  regular  ecclesiastics  who  desire  to  renounce  the  monastic 
life  and  live  as  secular  ecclesiastics  are  at  liberty  to  leave  their 
monasteries.  .  .  . 

167.  Decree  In  view  of  the  fact  that  the  institution  which  stands  most  in 

abolishing       ^^  ^^y  Qf  ^^  internal  prosperity  of  Spain  is  that  of  the  cus- 
the  interior  ,.  ...  ,  ,  111 

customs  lines  ^^^^^  \m^'s,  separating  the  provmces,  we  have  decreed  and  do 

decree  what  follows : 

To  date  from  January  i  next,  the  barriers  existing  between 

the  provinces  shall  be  suppressed.    The  customhouses  shall  be 

removed  to  the  frontiers  and  there  established. 


Europe  and  Napoleon  355 

In  May,  1809,  Napoleon  proclaimed  that  the  papal 
possessions  and  the  city  of  Rome  were  "reunited"  to 
the  French  empire.  He  attempts  in  the  following  decree 
to  justify  his  conduct  upan  historical  grounds. 

Napoleon,  emperor  of  the  French,  king  of  Italy,  protector  of  168.  Opening 
the  Confederation  of  the  Rhine,  etc.,  in  consideration  of  the  °/  *^^  !l^*^^^f, 
fact  that  when  Charlemagne,  emperor  of  the  French  and  our  the  papal 
august  predecessor,  granted  several  counties  to  the  bishops  of  states  to  the 
Rome  he  ceded  these  only  as  fiefs  and  for  the  good  of  his  g^!J|Jg 
lealm,  and  Rome  did  not,  by  reason  of  this  cession,  cease  to  (May  17, 
form  a  part  of  his  empire ;  further,  that  since  this  association  ^^09) 
of  spiritual  and  temporal  authority  has  been,  and  still  is,  a 
source  of  dissensions,  and  has  but  too  often  led  the  pontiffs  to 
employ  the  influence  of  the  former  to  maintain  the  pretensions 
of  the  latter,  and  thus  the  spiritual  concerns  and  heavenly  inter- 
ests, which  are  unchanging,  have  been  confused  with  terrestrial 
affairs,  which  by  their  nature  alter  according  to  circumstances 
and  the  policy  of  the  time  ;  and  since  all  our  proposals  for 
reconciling  the  security  of  our  armies,  the  tranquillity  and  the 
welfare  of  our  people,  and  the  dignity  and  integrity  of  our  em- 
pire, wath  the  temporal  pretensions  of  the  popes  have  failed, 
we  have  decreed  and  do  decree  what  follows  : 

Article  I.  The  papal  states  are  reunited  to  the  French 
empire. 

II.  The  city  of  Rome,  so  famous  by  reason  of  the  great  mem- 
ories which  cluster  about  it  and  as  the  first  seat  of  Christianity, 
is  proclaimed  a  free  imperial  city.  .  .  . 

In  August,  18 10,  when  Napoleon  was  arranging  to 
annex  Holland  and  the  Hanseatic  towns  to  France,  he 
addressed  the  Dutch  representatives,  who  had  been 
induced  to  lay  their  troubles  before  him,  in  the  follow- 
ing words  : 

.  .   .  When  Providence  elevated  me  to  the  first  throne  in  169.  Napo- 
the  world  it  became  my  duty,  while  establishing  forever  the  ^^^/^'^Z^^^"^ 
destinies  of  France,  to  determine  the  fate  of  all  those  people 


356  Readmgs  in  Modern  European  History 

who  formed  a  part  of  the  empire,  to  insure  for  all  the  benefits 
of  stability  and  order,  and  to  put  an  end  everywhere  to  the 
woes  of  anarchy.  I  have  done  away  with  the  uncertainty  in 
Italy  by  placing  upon  my  head  the  crown  of  iron.  I  have  sup- 
pressed the  government  which  was  ruling  in  Piedmont.  I  have 
traced  out  the  constitution  of  Switzerland  in  my  Act  of  Media- 
tion, and  I  have  harmonized  the  local  conditions  of  these 
countries  and  their  historical  traditions  with  the  security  and 
rights  of  the  imperial  crown. 

I  gave  you  a  prince  of  my  own  blood  to  govern  you.  It  was 
a  natural  bond,  which  should  have  served  to  unite  the  interests 
of  your  administration  and  the  rights  of  the  empire.  My  hopes 
have  been  disappointed.  Under  these  circumstances  I  have 
displayed  a  degree  of  moderation  and  long-suffering  which 
comported  but  ill  with  my  character  and  my  rights.  Finally,  I 
have  but  just  put  an  end  to  the  painful  uncertainty  in  which 
you  found  yourselves,  and  to  the  death  struggle  which  had  ended 
by  destroying  your  strength  and  resources.  I  have  opened  the 
continent  to  your  industry,  and  the  day  wdll  come  when  you 
shall  bear  my  eagles  upon  the  seas  which  your  ancestors  have 
rendered  illustrious.  You  will  then  show  yourself  worthy  of 
them  and  of  me.  .  .  . 

Section  46.     The  Fall  of  Napoleon 

Before  crossing  the  Russian  boundary  in  June,  18 12, 
Napoleon  issued  the  following  proclamation  to  the 
Grand  Army. 

Soldiers,  the  second  war  of  Poland  has  commenced.  The 
first  was  brought  to  a  close  at  Friedland  and  Tilsit.  At  Tilsit, 
the  opening  of  Russia  swore  eternal  alliance  with  France  and  war  with  Eng- 
the  Russian  land.  She  now  violates  her  oaths,  she  refuses  to  give  any  ex- 
planation of  her  strange  conduct,  except  on  condition  that  the 
eagles  of  France  shall  repass  the  Rhine,  leaving,  by  such  a 
movement,  our  allies  at  her  mercy.  Russia  is  dragged  along 
by  a  fate.  Her  destinies  must  be  accomplished.  Shall  she  then 
consider  us  degenerate?    Are  we  no  longer  to  be  looked  upon 


Etirope  and  Napoleoii  357 

as  the  soldiers  of  Austerlitz?  She  offers  us  the  alternative  of 
dishonor  or  war.  The  choice  does  not  admit  of  hesitation.  Let 
us  march  forward.  Let  us  pass  the  Niemen.  Let  us  carry  war 
into  her  territory.  The  second  war  of  Poland  will  be  as  glorious 
to  the  French  arms  as  was  the  first ;  but  the  peace  which  we 
shall  conclude  will  be  its  own  guaranty  and  will  put  an  end  to 
that  proud  and  haughty  influence  which  Russia  has  for  fifty 
years  exercised  in  the  affairs  of  Europe. 

At  our  Headquarters  at  Wilkowiszki 
June  22,  1812 

Five  months  later  Napoleon  was  frantically  endeav- 
oring to  regain  Poland.  An  eyewitness  thus  describes 
the  crossing  of  the  Beresina,  one  of  the  most  tragic 
episodes  in  all  military  history. 

On  the  25  th  of  November  there  had  been  thrown  across  the  171.  The 

river  temporary  bridges  made  of  beams  taken  from  the  cabins  crossing  of 

.     ,       „    1  .  ,.    ,        .         -         .        ,  -  ,       the  Beresina 

of  the  Poles.  ...    At  a  little  after  five  m  the  afternoon  the  (prom 

beams  gave  way,  not  being  sufficiently  strong;  and  as  it  was  Constant's 

necessary  to  wait  until  the  next  day,  the  army  again  abandoned  ^^^^^^^) 

itself  to  gloomy  forebodings.    It  was  evident  that  they  would 

have  to  endure  the  fire  of  the  enemy  all  the  next  day.    But 

there  was  no  longer  any  choice ;  for  it  was  only  at  the  end  of 

this  night  of  agony  and  suffering  of  every  description  that  the 

first  beams  were  secured  in  the  river.    It  is  hard  to  comprehend 

how  men  could  submit  to  stand,  up  to  their  mouths  in  water 

filled  with  ice,  rallying  all  the  strength  which  nature  had  given 

them,  added   to  all   that  the  energy  of  devotion  furnished, 

and  drive  piles  several  feet  deep  into  a  miry  bed,  struggling 

against  the  most  horrible  fatigue,  pushing  back  with  their  hands 

enormous  blocks  of  ice  which  threatened  to  submerge  and 

sink  them.  .  .  . 


The  emperor  awaited  daylight  in  a  poor  hut,  and  in  the  Napole 
morning  said  to  Prince  Berthier,  "  Well,  Berthier,  how  can  we  o^^rcoi 
get  out  of  this?  "  He  was  seated  in  his  room,  great  tears  flow-  ^nd  de: 
ing  down  his  cheeks,  which  were  paler  than  usual ;  and  the 


35^  Readings  i7i  Modern  Europe  a  71  History 

prince  was  seated  near  him.  They  exchanged  few  words,  and 
the  emperor  appeared  overcome  by  his  grief.  I  leave  to  the 
imagination  what  was  passing  in  his  soul.  .  .  . 

When  the  artillery  and  baggage  wagons  passed,  the  bridge 
was  so  overweighted  that  it  fell  in.  Instantly  a  backward 
movement  took  place,  which  crowded  together  all  the  multi- 
tude of  stragglers  who  were  advancing  in  the  rear  of  the  artil- 
lery, like  a  flock  being  herded.  Another  bridge  had  been 
constructed,  as  if  the  sad  thought  had  occurred  that  the  first 
might  give  way,  but  the  second  was  narrow  and  without  a  rail- 
ing ;  nevertheless  it  seemed  at  first  a  very  valuable  makeshift 
in  such  a  calamity.  But  how  disasters  follow  one  upon  another  ! 
The  stragglers  rushed  to  the  second  bridge  in  crowds.  But  the 
artillery,  the  baggage  wagons,  —  in  a  word,  all  the  army  sup- 
plies, —  had  been  in  front  on  the  first  bridge  when  it  broke 
down.  .  .  .  Now,  since  it  was  urgent  that  the  artillery  should 
pass  first,  it  rushed  impetuously  toward  the  only  road  to  safety 
which  remained.  No  pen  can  describe  the  scene  of  horror 
which  ensued ;  for  it  was  literally  over  a  road  of  trampled 
human  bodies  that  conveyances  of  all  sorts  reached  the  bridge. 
On  this  occasion  one  could  see  how  much  brutality  and  cold- 
blooded ferocity  can  be  produced  in  human  minds  by  the 
instinct  of  self-preservation.  ...  As  I  have  said,  the  bridge 
had  no  railing,  and  crowds  of  those  who  forced  their  way 
across  fell  into  the  river  and  were  engulfed  beneath  the  ice. 
Others,  in  their  fall,  tried  to  stop  themselves  by  grasping  the 
planks  of  the  bridge,  and  remained  suspended  over  the  abyss 
until,  their  hands  crushed  by  the  wheels  of  the  vehicles,  they 
lost  their  grasp  and  went  to  join  their  comrades  as  the  waves 
closed  over  them.  Entire  caissons  with  drivers  and  horses  were 
precipitated  into  the  water.  .  .   . 

Officers  harnessed  themselves  to  sleds  to  carry  some  of  their 
companions  who  were  rendered  helpless  by  their  wounds.  They 
wrapped  these  unfortunates  as  warmly  as  possible,  cheered  them 
from  time  to  time  with  a  glass  of  brandy  when  they  could  pro- 
cure it,  and  lavished  upon  them  the  most  touching  attention. 
There  were  many  who  behaved  in  this  unselfish  manner,  of 
whose  names  we  are  ignorant ;   and  how  few  returned  to  enjoy 


Europe  mid  Napoleon  359 

in  their  own  country  the  remembrance  of  the  most  heroic 
deeds  of  their  hves! 

On  the  29th  the  emperor  quitted  the  banks  of  the  Beresina 
and  we  slept  at  Kamen,  where  his  Majesty  occupied  a  poor 
wooden  building  which  the  icy  air  penetrated  from  all  sides 
through  the  windows,  for  nearly  all  the  glass  was  broken.  We 
closed  the  openings  as  well  as  we  could  with  bundles  of  hay. 
A  short  distance  from  us,  in  a  large  lot,  were  penned  up  the 
wretched  Russian  prisoners  whom  the  army  drove  before  it. 
I  had  much  difficulty  in  comprehending  the  delusion  of  victory 
which  our  poor  soldiers  still  kept  up  by  dragging  after  them 
this  wretched  luxury  of  prisoners,  who  could  only  be  an  added 
burden,  as  they  required  constant  surveillance.  When  the  con- 
querors are  dying  of  famine,  what  becomes  of  the  conquered? 
These  poor  Russians,  exhausted  by  marches  and  hunger,  nearly 
all  perished  that  night.  .  .  . 

On  the  3d  of  December  we  arrived  at  Malodeczno.  During 
the  whole  day  the  emperor  appeared  thoughtful  and  anxious. 
He  had  frequent  confidential  conversations  with  the  grand 
equerry.  Monsieur  de  Coulaincourt,  and  I  expected  some  extra- 
ordinary measure.  I  was  not  mistaken  in  my  conjectures.  At 
two  leagues  from  Smorghoni  the  duke  of  Vicenza  summoned 
me  and  told  me  to  go  on  in  front  and  give  orders  to  have  the 
six  best  horses  harnessed  to  my  carriage,  which  was  the  lightest 
of  all,  and  keep  them  in  constant  readiness.  I  reached  Smorg- 
honi before  the  emperor,  who  did  not  arrive  until  the  fol- 
lowing night.  .  .  .  After  supper  the  emperor  ordered  Prince 
Eugene  to  read  the  twenty-ninth  bulletin  and  spoke  freely  of 
his  plans,  saying  that  his  departure  was  essential  in  order  to 
send  help  to  the  army.  .  .  . 

The  emperor  left  in  the  night.  By  daybreak  the  army  had 
learned  the  news,  and  the  impression  it  made  cannot  be  de- 
picted. Discouragement  was  at  its  height,  and  many  soldiers 
cursed  the  emperor  and  reproached  him  for  abandoning  them. 

This  night,  the  6th,  the  cold  increased  greatly.  Its  severity 
may  be  imagined,  as  birds  were  found  on  the  ground  frozen 
stiff.  Soldiers  seated  themselves  with  their  heads  in  their  hands 
and  bodies  bent  forward  in  order  thus  to  feel  less  the  emptiness 


360  Readings  in  Modern  European  History 

of  their  stomachs.  .  .  .  Everything  had  failed  us.  Long  before 
reaching  Wilna,  the  horses  being  dead,  we  received  orders  to 
burn  our  carriages  and  all  their  contents. 

The  German  people,  divided  as  they  were  into  a  mul- 
titude of  little  states,  had  borne  apathetically  Napoleon's 
dominion  for  some  years.  But  his  insolent  conduct  after 
the  victory  of  Jena  began  to  arouse  the  national  feeling 
which  was  later  to  drive  him  from  German  soil  and  lay 
the  foundation  of  a  united  fatherland.  The  judicious 
Chancellor  Pasquier,  in  his  Memoirs^  thus  describes 
Napoleon's  unwarranted  treatment  of  the  Prussians. 

172.  Napo-         Prussia,  which  for  about  half  a  century  had  advanced  step 
leon'scon-    j^y  g^gp  ^q  ^^  ^^^^  \2iVik  among  military  powers,  was  laid  low 
Jena.  (From  ^t  the  first  clash  of  arms.    Such  of  the  old  generals  of  Freder- 
Pasquier's    ick  the  Great  as  still  survived  —  the  duke  of  Brunswick,  Gen- 
Memoirs)      g^-^j  Mollendorf,  and  many  others  —  either  lost  their  lives  on 
the  battlefield  of  Jena  or,  as  a  result  of  the  rout,  the  remnants 
of  their  former  military  reputation.   Seventeen  days  sufficed  to 
place  the  French  army  in  possession  of  the  Prussian  capital,  and 
the  end  of  November  saw  it  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  Vis- 
tula, after  taking  Ciistrin,  Spandau,  Liibeck,  and  Magdeburg, — 
the  last  named  reputed  to  be  the  most  strongly  fortified  town  in 
the  Prussian  kingdom,  —  and  occupying  all  the  states  belong- 
ing to  Prussia,  with  the  exception  of  Silesia  and  the  fortress  of 
Colberg  in  Pomerania.  .  .  . 

France  was  no  doubt  proud  of  all  these  victories,  and  she 
wished  to  reap  the  fruits  of  them,  the  first  of  which,  in  her 
eyes,  was  peace,  —  a  glorious,  but  also  a  lasting  one.  Modera- 
tion in  the  hour  of  triumph  could  alone  insure  such  a  result, 
and  the  French  character,  which  is  naturally  generous,  indulged 
in  thoughts  of  a  magnanimous  use  of  victory.  So  it  was  that 
people  nourished  the  illusory  idea  that  the  man  who  had  risen 
so  high  could  not  be  deficient  in  the  only  quality  which  could 
make  his  conquests  secure.  .  .  . 

But  no  sooner  was  Napoleon  in  Berlin  than  he  not  only 
acted  and  spoke  as  an  angry  conqueror,  but  affected  the  speech 


Europe  ajid  Napoleon  361 

and  the  attitude  of  a  sovereign  giving  commands  to  his  subjects. 
Loyalty  to  the  prince  who  had  fled  at  his  approach  was  treated 
as  an  act  of  rebelHon,  and,  in  his  indignation  against  the  oppo- 
sition of  a  portion  of  the  nobihty  which  still  held  communica- 
tion with  the  unfortunate  king,  he  exclaimed,  in  the  very  halls 
of  the  palace  of  the  great  Frederick,  "  I  will  so  humble  this 
court  nobility  that  it  shall  be  reduced  to  begging  its  bread."  In 
his  proclamations  and  bulletins  he  constantly  coupled  threats 
with  insults.  Misfortune,  which  should  be  sacred,  was  not  even 
respected  in  the  person  of  the  queen  of  Prussia.  This  con- 
duct was  far  from  affording  any  reassuring  preliminaries  for 
the  peace  so  ardently  desired. 

The  disaster  of  Jena  and  the  humiliation  of  Tilsit 
forced  Prussia  to  try  to  regain  strength  and  prosperity 
through  the  radical  reform  of  her  whole  social  organiza- 
tion. The  first  step  was  taken  in  October,  1807,  when 
serfdom  and  certain  ancient  restrictions  on  landhold- 
ing  were  abolished.  A  few  paragraphs  of  this  cautious 
measure  are  given  below.  They  are  in  singular  con- 
trast to  the  generous  and  thoroughgoing,  not  to  say 
reckless,  provisions  of  the  decree  abolishing  the  feudal 
system  in  France  given  above. ^ 

We,  Frederick  William,  by  the  grace  of  God  king  of  Prussia,  173.  The 

etc.,  etc.,  hereby  make  known  and  proclaim  that :  Since  peace  P^^ussian 

,  ^  ^■  ^      ^  ,  i  •     1  1     r  ,  •        Teform  edict 

has  been  established  we  have  been  occupied  beiore  everything  of  October  9. 

else  with  the  care  for  the  depressed  condition  of  our  faithful  1807 
subjects  and  the  speediest  revival  and  greatest  possible  improve- 
ment in  this  respect.  We  have  considered  that,  in  face  of  the 
prevailing  want,  the  means  at  our  disposal  would  be  insufficient 
to  aid  each  individual,  and  even  if  they  were  sufficient,  we 
could  not  hope  to  accomplish  our  object ;  and  that,  moreover, 
in  accordance  with  the  imperative  demands  of  justice  and  with 
the  principles  of  a  judicious  economic  policy,  it  behooves  us 
to  remove  every  obstacle  which  has  hitherto  prevented  the 

1  See  above,  pp.  256  s(/q. 


362  Readiiigs  in  Modern  Eutvpean  History 

individual  from  attaining  such  a  state  of  prosperity  as  he  was 
capable  of  reaching.  We  have  further  considered  that  the 
existing  restrictions,  both  on  the  possession  and  enjoyment  of 
landed  property  and  on  the  personal  condition  of  the  agricul- 
tural laborer,  especially  interfere  with  our  benevolent  purpose 
and  disable  a  great  force  which  might  be  applied  to  the  restora- 
tion of  agriculture  :  the  former,  by  their  prejudicial  influence 
upon  the  value  of  landed  property  and  the  credit  of  the  pro- 
prietor ;  the  latter,  by  diminishing  the  value  of  labor.  We 
desire,  therefore,  to  reduce  both  kinds  of  restrictions  so  far  as 
the  common  well-being  demands,  and  we  accordingly  ordain 
the  following : 

1 .  Every  inhabitant  of  our  states  is  competent,  without  any 
limitation  on  the  part  of  the  state,  to  own  or  mortgage  landed 
property  of  every  kind.  The  noble  may  therefore  own  not  only 
noble  but  also  non-noble,  citizen,  and  peasant  lands  of  every 
kind,  and  the  citizen  and  peasant  may  possess  not  only  citizen, 
peasant,  and  other  non-noble,  but  also  noble  tracts  of  land 
without  in  any  case  needing  special  permission  for  any  acquisi- 
tion whatever,  although  henceforth,  as  before,  every  change  of 
ownership  must  be  announced  to  the  authorities.  All  privileges 
which  are  possessed  by  noble  over  citizen  inheritances  are  en- 
tirely abolished.   .  .  . 

2.  Every  noble  is  henceforth  permitted,  without  any  dero- 
gation from  his  station,  to  engage  in  citizen  occupation,  and 
every  citizen  or  peasant  is  allowed  to  pass  from  the  citizen 
into  the  peasant  class  or  from  the  peasant  into  the  citizen 
class.^  .  .  . 

10.  From  the  date  of  this  ordinance  no  new  relation  of  serf- 
dom, whether  by  birth  or  marriage,  or  by  assuming  the  position 
of  a  serf,  or  by  contract,  can  be  created. 

11.  With  the  publication  of  the  present  ordinance  the  exist- 
ing relations  of  serfdom  of  those  serfs,  with  their  wives  and 
children,  who  possess  their  peasant  holdings  by  inheritance,  or 
in  their  own  right,  or  by  perpetual  leases,  or  of  copyhold,  shall 
cease  entirely,  together  with  all  mutual  rights  and  duties. 

1  The  articles  here  omitted  relate  to  leases,  mortgages,  etc.,  and  are 
technical  and  obscure. 


Einvpe  and  Napoleon  363 

12.  From  Martinmas,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  ten 
(18 10),  all  serfdom  shall  cease  throughout  our  whole  realm. 
From  Martinmas,  18 10,  there  shall  be  only  free  persons,  as  is 
already  the  case  upon  the  royal  domains  in  all  our  provinces, 
—  free  persons,  however,  still  subject,  as  a  matter  of  course,  to 
all  obligations  which  bind  them,  as  free  persons,  by  reason  of  the 
possession  of  an  estate  or  by  virtue  of  a  special  contract.^ 

To  this  declaration  of  our  supreme  will  every  one  whom  it 
may  concern,  and  in  particular  our  provincial  authorities  and 
other  officials,  are  exactly  and  dutifully  to  conform,  and  the 
present  ordinance  is  to  be  universally  made  known. 

Given  authentically,  under  our  own  royal  signature,  at  Memel, 
October  9,  1807.  Frederick  William 

Schrotter,  Stein,  Schrotter  II 

By  the  middle  of  March,  18 13,  the  timid  king  of 
Prussia,  encouraged  by  Napoleon's  defeat  in  Russia, 
finally  decided  to  throw  off  the  French  yoke  and  lead 
his  country  into  a  war  of  liberation.  He  explained  his 
reasons  to  his  people  in  one  of  the  most  famous  docu- 
ments {An  mein  Volk)  in  modern  German  history. 

There  is  no  need  of  explaining  to  my  loyal  subjects,  or  to  174.  The 
any  German,  the  reasons  for  the  war  which  is  about  to  begin.  ^^°S  0* 
They  lie  plainly  before  the  eyes  of  awakened   Europe.    We  rouses  his 
succumbed  to  the  superior  force  of  France.    The  peace  which  people 
followed  deprived  me  of  my  people  and,  far  from  bringing  us  Jj^p^QjgQ^ 
blessings,  it  inflicted  upon  us  deeper  wounds  than  the  war  itself, 
sucking  out  the  very  marrow  of  the  country.    Our  principal 

1  These  general  provisions  abolishing  serfdom  were  so  vague  as  to  be 
misunderstood.  The  king  therefore  issued  an  official  explanation  later 
(April  8,  1809  ;  Gesetz-Sanunlung,  1806-18 10,  pp.  557  sqq.),  which  serv^es 
to  enlighten  us  upon  the  exact  nature  of  the  personal  dependence  of 
the  serf.  This  consisted,  for  example,  in  the  right  of  the  lord  to  demand 
three  years'  service  from  children  of  his  serfs,  and  to  control  them  in 
later  life  in  the  matter  of  occupation  and  marriage.  The  former  serf 
is  permitted  by  the  new  law  to  engage  in  any  industry  he  may  choose 
and  to  leave  the  manor  if  he  wishes  without  demanding  the  consent  of 
the  lord. 


364  Readings  in  Modern  European  History 

fortresses  remained  in  the  hand  of  the  enemy,  and  agriculture, 
as  well  as  the  highly  developed  industries  of  our  towns,  were 
crippled.  The  freedom  of  trade  was  hampered  and  thereby 
the  sources  of  commerce  and  prosperity  cut  off.  The  country 
was  left  a  prey  to  the  ravages  of  destitution. 

I  hoped,  by  the  punctilious  fulfillment  of  the  engagements 
I  had  entered  into,  to  lighten  the  burdens  of  my  people,  and 
even  to  convince  the  French  emperor  that  it  would  be  to  his 
own  advantage  to  leave  Prussia  her  independence.  But  the 
purest  and  best  of  intentions  on  my  part  were  of  no  avail 
against  insolence  and  faithlessness,  and  it  became  only  too 
plain  that  the  emperor's  treaties  would  gradually  ruin  us  even 
more  surely  than  his  wars.  The  moment  is  come  when  we  can 
no  longer  harbor  the  slightest  illusion  as  to  our  situation. 

Brandenburgers,  Prussians,  Silesians,  Pomeranians,  Lithu- 
anians !  You  know  what  you  have  borne  for  the  past  seven 
years ;  you  know  the  sad  fate  that  awaits  you  if  we  do  not 
bring  this  war  to  an  honorable  end.  Think  of  the  times  gone 
by,  —  of  the  Great  Elector,  the  great  Frederick  !  Remember 
the  blessings  for  which  your  forefathers  fought  under  their 
leadership  and  which  they  paid  for  with  their  blood,  —  freedom 
of  conscience,  national  honor,  independence,  commerce,  in- 
dustry, learning.  Look  at  the  great  example  of  our  powerful 
allies,  the  Russians ;  look  at  the  Spaniards,  the  Portuguese.  For 
such  objects  as  these  even  weaker  peoples  have  gone  forth 
against  mightier  enemies  and  returned  in  triumph.  Witness 
the  heroic  Swiss  and  the  people  of  the  Netherlands. 

Great  sacrifices  will  be  demanded  from  every  class  of  the 
people,  for  our  undertaking  is  a  great  one,  and  the  number  and 
resources  of  our  enemies  far  from  insignificant.  But  would  you 
not  rather  make  these  sacrifices  for  the  fatherland  and  for  your 
own  rightful  king  than  for  a  foreign  ruler,  who,  as  he  has 
shown  by  many  examples,  will  use  you  and  your  sons  and  your 
uttermost  farthing  for  ends  which  are  nothing  to  you  ? 

Faith  in  God,  perseverance,  and  the  powerful  aid  of  our 
allies  will  bring  us  victory  as  the  reward  of  our  honest  efforts. 
Whatever  sacrifices  may  be  required  of  us  as  individuals,  they 
will  be  outweighed  by  the  sacred  rights  for  which  we  make 


Europe  and  Napoleon  365 

them,  and  for  which  we  must  fight  to  a  victorious  end  unless 
we  are  wilHng  to  cease  to  be  Prussians  or  Germans.  This  is 
the  final,  the  decisive  struggle ;  upon  it  depends  our  inde- 
pendence, our  prosperity,  our  existence.  There  are  no  other 
alternatives  but  an  honorable  peace  or  a  heroic  end.  You 
would  willingly  face  even  the  latter  for  honor's  sake,  for  with- 
out honor  no  Prussian  or  German  could  live. 

However,  we  may  confidently  await  the  outcome.  God  and 
our  own  firm  purpose  will  bring  victory  to  our  cause  and  with  it 
an  assured  and  glorious  peace  and  the  return  of  happier  times. 

Breslau,  March  17,  1813  FREDERICK  William 

Immediately  after  the  great  battle  of  the  nations  at 
Leipzig  the  distinguished  Prussian  statesman,  Stein, 
writes  as  follows  to  his  wife  : 

Leipzig,  October  21,  1813 

At  last,  my  dear  one,  we  may  venture  to  indulge  in  a  feeling  175-  Stein 
of  happiness.    Napoleon  is  beaten  and  put  to  flight  in  disorder.  ^^^Jj^^J^® 
They  are  driving  him  over  to  the  left  bank  of  the  Rhine  and  Leipzig  to 
the  Austro-Bavarian   army  will  catch  up  with  him  before  he  his  wife 
crosses  the  river.    This  is  the  result  of  the  bloody  but  glorious 
battle  of  the  14th,  i6th,  i8th,  and  19th  of  October. 

And  so  that  monstrous  structure  built  up  by  the  maddest 
and  most  perverse  tyranny  and  cemented  by  the  blood  and 
tears  of  so  many  millions  now  lies  in  ruins.  From  one  end  of 
Germany  to  the  other  men  now  dare  to  say  that  Napoleon  is  a 
scoundrel  and  an  enemy  of  the  human  race ;  that  the  shame- 
ful bonds  in  which  he  has  held  our  fatherland  are  broken,  and 
the  humiliation  he  has  heaped  upon  us  is  washed  out  in  streams 
of  French  blood. 

This  great  event  is  due  to  the  persistence  and  noble  spirit 
developed  by  Emperor  Alexander  in  the  important  and  deci- 
sive events  of  last  year,  the  heroic  devotion  of  his  people,  and 
the  spirit  of  justice  and  moderation  which  he  has  shown  in 
all  his  negotiations  with  the  powers  whom  he  has  invited  to 
associate  their  efforts  with  his ;   to  the  sacrifices  and  strength 


366  Readings  in  Modern  Ejiropeajt  History 


176.  Treaty 
of  Fontaine- 
bleau,  in 
which  Napo- 
leon abdi- 
cates (April 
II,  1814) 


which  Prussia  has  brought  to  the  struggle  since  she  entered  it ; 
to  the  spirit  of  opposition  and  hate  toward  the  oppressor 
which   has  shown  itself  on  all  sides. 

The  workings  of  Providence  are  at  least  justified  by  the 
terrible  judgment  which  has  been  meted  out  to  the  monster 
whose  obstinacy  has  led  him  into  political  and  military  follies 
which  have  hastened  his  fall  and  made  him  an  object  of  con- 
tempt among  the  people.  .  .  . 

These  results  have  been  won  by  two  bloody,  glorious,  and 
tragic  campaigns,  and  through  many  costly  battles.  At  Liitzen, 
Bautzen,  Teltow,  Dresden,  Katzbach,  Kulm,  Dennewitz,  Bledin, 
Leipzig,  the  seed  was  sown  for  this  harvest  which  now  awaits 
us,  the  fruits  of  which  we  should  enjoy  with  a  devout  and 
thankful  recognition  of  the  hand  of  Providence,  and  in  all 
moderation. 

The  allies  have  vested  in  me  the  whole  administration  of 
the  territory  which  they  have  occupied.  Repnin  has  been 
made  governor  of  Saxony.  I  leave  in  a  fortnight,  as  soon  as 
the  army  has  reached  Frankfort. 

Six  months  after  the  battle  of  Leipzig  Napoleon 
finally  renounced,  for  himself  and  his  heirs,  the  thrones 
of  France  and  Italy  (April  11,  18 14),  and  on  the  same 
day  concluded  the  Treaty  of  Fontainebleau  with  his 
enemies. 

His  Majesty  the  Emperor  Napoleon,  on  the  one  part,  and, 
on  the  other,  their  Majesties  the  emperor  of  Austria,  the  king 
of  Prussia,  and  the  emperor  of  all  the  Russias,  both  in  their 
own  names  and  those  of  their  allies.  .  .  . 

1.  His  Majesty  the  Emperor  Napoleon  renounces  for  him- 
self, his  successors,  and  descendants,  as  well  as  for  all  the 
members  of  his  family,  all  right  of  sovereignty  and  dominion 
as  well  in  the  French  empire  as  in  the  kingdom  of  Italy  and 
in  every  other  country. 

2.  Their  Majesties  the  Emperor  Napoleon  and  the  Empress 
Maria  Louisa  shall  retain  their  titles  and  rank,  to  be  enjoyed 
during  their  lifetime.    The  mother,  brothers,  sisters,  nephews. 


Etirope  and  Napoleon  367 

and  nieces  of  the  emperor  shall  retain,  wherever  they  may  be, 
the  titles  of  princes  of  his  family. 

3.  The  island  of  Elba,  adopted  by  his  Majesty  the  Emperor 
Napoleon  as  the  place  of  his  residence,  shall  form  during  his 
life  a  separate  principality,  which  shall  be  possessed  by  him  in 
full  sovereignty  and  proprietorship. 

There  shall  be  given  to  the  Emperor  Napoleon,  besides  full 
proprietorship  of  the  island  of  Elba,  an  annual  revenue  of  two 
million  francs.  .  .  . 

5.  The  duchies  of  Parma,  Piacenza,  and  Guastalla  shall  be 
given  in  full  proprietorship  and  sovereignty  to  her  Majesty 
the  Empress  Maria  Louisa.  They  shall  pass  to  her  son  and 
to  his  descendants  in  the  direct  line.  The  prince,  her  son, 
shall  assume  from  this  moment  the  title  of  Prince  of  Parma, 
Piacenza,  and  Guastalla.  .  .  . 

Eleven  months  later  Napoleon  returned  from  Elba, 
but  was  met  by  the  following  declaration  of  the  allies, 
who  were  in  conference  at  Vienna. 

The  powers  who  signed  the  Treaty  of  Paris,  reassembled  in  177.  Decla- 
the  congress  at  Vienna,  having  been  informed  of  the  escape  ^^^^^^  0^  t^® 
of  Napoleon  Bonaparte  and  of  his  entrance  into  France  with  Napoleon's 
an  armed  force,  owe  to  their  dignity  and  the  interest  of  social  return  from 
order  the  solemn  declaration  of   the   sentiments  which  that  Elba  (March 
event  has  inspired  in  them. 

In  thus  violating  the  convention  which  established  him  in 
the  island  of  Elba,  Bonaparte  has  destroyed  the  only  legal 
title  to  his  existence.  By  reappearing  in  France  with  projects 
of  disorder  and  destruction,  he  has  cut  himself  off  from  the 
protection  of  the  law,  and  has  shown  in  the  face  of  all  the 
world  that  there  can  be  neither  peace  nor  truce  with  him. 

Accordingly  the  powers  declare  that  Napoleon  Bonaparte 
is  excluded  from  civil  and  social  relations,  and  as  an  enemy 
and  disturber  of  the  tranquillity  of  the  world  he  has  incurred 
public  vengeance. 

At  the  same  time,  being  firmly  resolved  to  preserve  intact 
the  Treaty  of  Paris  of  May  30,  18 14,  and  the  arrangements 


368  Readings  in  Modern  European  History 

sanctioned  by  that  treaty,  as  well  as  those  which  have  been  or 
shall  be  arranged  hereafter  in  order  to  complete  and  consoli- 
date it,  they  declare  that  they  will  employ  all  their  resources 
and  unite  all  their  efforts  in  order  that  the  general  peace,  the 
object  of  the  desires  of  Europe  and  the  constant  aim  of  their 
labors,  may  not  be  again  disturbed,  and  in  order  to  secure 
themselves  from  all  attempts  which  may  threaten  to  plunge 
the  world  once  more  into  the  disorders  and  misfortunes  of 
revolutions. 

And  although  fully  persuaded  that  all  France,  rallying  around 
its  legitimate  sovereign,  will  strive  unceasingly  to  bring  to 
naught  this  last  attempt  of  a  criminal  and  impotent  madman, 
all  the  sovereigns  of  Europe,  animated  by  the  same  feeling 
and  guided  by  the  same  principles,  declare  that  if,  contrary 
to  all  expectation,  there  shall  result  from  that  event  any  real 
danger,  they  will  be  ready  to  give  to  the  king  of  France  and  the 
French  nation,  or  to  any  government  which  shall  be  attacked, 
as  soon  as  shall  be  required,  all  the  assistance  necessary  to 
reestablish  the  public  tranquillity,  and  to  make  common  cause 
against  all  who  may  attempt  to  compromise  it. 

The  present  declaration,  inserted  in  the  protocol  of  the 
congress  assembled  at  Vienna,  March  13,  18 15,  shall  be 
made  public. 

The  allies  completely  carried  out  the  programme 
announced  in  the  declaration  above.  In  less  than  two 
months  after  the  battle  of  Waterloo,  the  ship  bearing 
Napoleon  to  St.  Helena  was  well  on  its  way.  One  of 
the  few  companions  who  were  permitted  to  accompany 
him,  the  Comte  de  Las  Cases,  kept  an  interesting  jour- 
nal of  his  experiences,  especially  of  his  conversations 
with  Napoleon  (see  above,  p.  312).  He  makes  the  fol- 
lowing entries  in  his  diary. 

August  10.  This  day  we  cleared  the  Channel.  We  had  now 
entered  upon  the  dreary  unknown  course  to  which  fate  had 
doomed  us.    Again  my  agonies  were  renewed ;  again  the  dear 


Europe  and  Napoleon  369 

connections  I   had  abandoned  resumed   their  sway  over  my  178.  Napo- 
heart.   .  .   .    Meanwhile  we  advanced  in  our  course  and  were  ^®o°'s  exile 
soon  to  be  out  of  Europe.    Thus,  in  less  than  six  weeks,  had  (Prom  Las 
the  emperor  abdicated  his  throne  and  placed  himself  in  the  Cases's 
hands  of  the  English,  who  were  now  hurrying  him  to  a  barren  ^^^^y) 
rock  in  the  midst  of  a  vast  ocean.    This  is  certainly  no  ordi- 
nary instance  of  the  chances  of  fortune,  and  no  common  trial 
of  firmness  of  mind.  .  .   . 

As  to  the  reproach  of  suffering  himself  to  be  transported  to 
St.  Helena,  it  would  be  a  disgrace  to  answer  such  a  charge. 
To  contend  with  an  adversary  in  the  cabin  of  a  ship,  to  kill 
some  one  with  his  own  hand,  or  attempt  to  set  fire  to  the 
powder  magazine  would  have  been  at  best  the  act  of  a  bucca- 
neer. Dignity  in  misfortune,  submission  to  necessity  have 
also  their  glory,  and  it  is  that  which  becomes  great  men  over- 
whelmed by  adversity.   .   .  . 

August  11-14.  Our  course  was  shaped  to  cross  the  Bay  of 
Biscay  and  to  double  Cape  Finisterre.  The  wind  was  fair 
though  light,  and  the  heat  excessive.  Nothing  could  be  more 
monotonous  than  the  time  we  now  passed.  ...  It  is  well 
known  that  Napoleon  was  wont  to  be  scarcely  more  than  fif- 
teen minutes  at  his  dinner.  Here  the  two  courses  alone  occu- 
pied from  an  hour  to  an  hour  and  a  half.  This  was  to  him 
a  most  serious  annoyance,  though  he  never  mentioned  it ;  his 
features,  gestures,  and  manner  always  evinced  perfect  indiffer- 
ence. Neither  the  new  system  of  cookery,  the  difference,  or 
the  quality  of  the  dishes  ever  met  with  his  censure  or  approba- 
tion.  .  .  . 

I  need  scarcely  observe  that  the  English  are  accustomed  to 
remain  a  long  time  at  table  after  the  dessert,  drinking  and  con- 
versing. The  emperor,  already  wearied  by  the  tedious  dinner, 
could  never  have  endured  this  custom ;  he  rose,  therefore,  from 
the  first  day,  immediately  after  coffee  had  been  handed  around, 
and  went  out  on  deck,  followed  by  the  grand  marshal  and 
myself.  This  disconcerted  the  admiral,  who  took  occasion  to 
express  his  surprise  to  his  officers ;  but  Madame  Bertrand, 
whose  maternal  language  was  English,  warmly  replied,  "  Do 
not  forget.  Admiral,  that  your  guest  is  a  man  who  has  governed 


370  Readings  in  Modern  Ejiropeaii  History 

a  large  portion  of  the  world,  and  that  kings  once  contended 
for  the  honor  of  being  admitted  to  his  table."  "  Very  true," 
rejoined  the  admiral ;  and  this  officer,  who  possessed  good 
sense,  a  becoming  pliability  of  manners,  and  sometimes  much 
elegance,  did  his  utmost  from  that  moment  to  accommodate 
the  emperor  in  his  habits.  He  shortened  the  time  of  sitting  at 
the  table,  ordering  coffee  for  Napoleon  and  those  who  accom- 
panied him  even  before  the  rest  of  the  company  had  finished 
their  dinner.  .  .  . 

October  2J-24.  The  Emperor  Napoleon,  who  but  lately  pos- 
sessed such  boundless  power  and  disposed  of  so  many  crowns, 
now  occupies  a  wretched  hovel,  a  few  feet  square,  which  is 
perched  upon  a  rock,  unprovided  with  furniture,  and  without 
either  shutters  or  curtains  to  the  windows.  This  place  must 
serve  him  for  bedchamber,  dressing  room,  dining  room,  study, 
and  sitting  room ;  and  he  is  obliged  to  go  out  when  it  is  neces- 
sary to  have  this  one  apartment  cleaned.  His  meals,  consisting 
of  a  few  wretched  dishes,  are  brought  to  him  from  a  distance, 
as  though  he  were  a  criminal  in  a  dungeon.  He  is  absolutely 
in  want  of  the  necessaries  of  life  :  the  bread  and  wine  are  not 
only  not  such  as  he  has  been  accustomed  to,  but  are  so  bad 
that  we  loathe  to  touch  them ;  water,  coffee,  butter,  oil,  and 
other  articles  are  either  not  to  be  procured  or  are  scarcely  fit 
for  use.  .  .  . 

We  were  all  assembled  around  the  emperor,  and  he  was  reca- 
pitulating these  facts  with  warmth  :  "For  what  infamous  treat- 
ment are  we  reserved  !  "  he  exclaimed.  "This  is  the  anguish 
of  death  !  To  injustice  and  violence  they  now  add  insult  and 
protracted  torment.  If  I  were  so  hateful  to  them,  why  did 
they  not  get  rid  of  me?  A  few  musket  balls  in  my  heart  or 
my  head  would  have  done  the  business,  and  there  would  at 
least  have  been  some  energy  in  the  crime.  Were  it  not  for 
you,  and  above  all  for  your  wives,  I  would  receive  nothing  from 
them  but  the  pay  of  a  private  soldier.  How  can  the  monarchs 
of  Europe  permit  the  sacred  character  of  sovereignty  to  be 
violated  in  my  person?  Do  they  not  see  that  they  are,  with 
their  own  hands,  working  their  own  destruction  at  St.  Helena? 
I  entered  their  capitals  victorious  and,  had  I  cherished  such 


Euf'ope  and  Napoleon  371 

senciments,  what  would  have  become  of  them  ?  They  styled  me 
their  brother,  and  I  had  become  so  by  the  choice  of  the  peo- 
ple, the  sanction  of  victory,  the  character  of  religion,  and  the 
alliance  of  their  policy  and  their  blood.  Do  they  imagine  that 
the  good  sense  of  nations  is  blind  to  their  conduct?  And  what 
do  they  expect  from  it?  At  all  events,  make  your  complaints, 
gentlemen  ;  let  indignant  Europe  hear  them.  Complaints  from 
me  would  be  beneath  my  dignity  and  character  ;  I  must  either 
command  or  be  silent." 


CHAPTER    XVI 

THE  RECONSTRUCTION  OF  EUROPE  AT  THE 
CONGRESS  OF  VIENNA 


France  at 
first  viewed 
as  a  black 
sheep  at  the 
Congress  of 
Vienna 


179.  Talley- 
rand's dis- 
couragement 
upon  start- 
ing for  the 
Congress  of 
Vienna 
(From  Pas- 
quier's 
Memoirs) 


Section  /fj.     The  Cong7'ess  of  Vienna  and  its   Work 

When  the  long  and  bloody  struggle  of  the  European 
powers  against  Napoleon  was  finally  brought  to  a  suc- 
cessful issue  in  the  spring  of  18 14,  France,  who  was 
looked  upon  as  the  chief  promoter  of  discord  during  the 
previous  twenty  years,  was  naturally  viewed  as  the  black 
sheep  by  the  allies.  But  Louis  XVIII  was  represented 
at  the  Congress  of  Vienna  by  a  well-tried  diplomat, 
Talleyrand,  who  skillfully  took  advantage  of  the  diver- 
gent interests  of  the  allies  and  soon  restored  France 
to  her  natural  position  of  importance  in  the  concert 
of  the  powers.  Nevertheless,  when  Talleyrand  left  Paris 
for  Vienna  the  outlook  was  gloomy  enough.  He  said  to 
Pasquier  on  the  eve  of  his  departure  : 

I  am  probably  going  to  play  a  very  sorry  part.  In  the  first 
place,  what  kind  of  a  welcome  shall  I  receive?  Shall  I  ever  get 
a  hearing  ?  Following  upon  the  convention  of  the  30th  of  May, 
the  allied  sovereigns  made  the  king  of  France  bind  himself 
not  to  interfere  in  the  partition  they  should  see  fit  to  make  of 
the  territories  wrested  from  Bonaparte.  If  it  is  their  intention 
that  that  engagement  shall  be  strictly  adhered  to,  I  shall  be 
present  there  only  as  what  is  altogether  wrongly  styled  ad  Jio- 
nores.  I  may  occasionally  open  my  lips  for  form's  sake,  but  no 
heed  will  be  paid  to  the  words  issuing  from  them.  On  the 
other  hand,  I  shall  be  blamed  at  home  for  everything  that  does 

372 


Rccofistnictioji  of  Europe  at  the  Congress  of  Vienna     373 

not  turn  out  as  one  would  have  wished.  I  do  not  enjoy  the 
conndence  of  these  people  ;  for  the  past  five  months  they  have 
taken  no  pains  to  conceal  this  fact  from  me.  Under  such  cir- 
cumstances the  best  thing  for  a  man  to  do,  were  it  only  possible, 
would  be  to  stay  at  home. 

But  Talleyrand  had  underrated  his  wonderful  diplo- 
matic skill,  and  had  failed  to  reckon  with  the  assistance 
which  he  would  receive  from  the  conflicting  interests 
and  dissensions  among  the  allies.  Early  in  January  he 
was  able  to  write  the  following  complacent  letter  to 
Louis  XVIII. 

Vienna,  January  4,  1815 
Sire : 

I  have  received  the  letter  of  the  23d  of  last  month  with  180.  Talley- 

which  your  Majesty  deigned  to  honor  me.    On  the  21st  of  the  rand  writes 

11-  r       1         r  ,  1  to  Louis 

present  month,  the  anniversary  of  a  day  of  horror  and  eternal  XVIII  de- 
mourning,^  a  solemn  expiatory  service  will  be  celebrated  in  one  scribing  his 
of  the  principal  churches  of  Vienna.  .   .  .    Everything  in  this  ^hSiomacy 
sad  ceremony  must  be  proportioned  to   the  grandeur  of  its  at  Vienna 
object,  the  splendor  of  the  crown  of  France,  and  the  quality 
of  those  who  are  to  be  present.    All  the  members  of  the  con- 
gress will  be  invited,  and  I  am  sure  that  they  will  come.  .  .  . 

The  news  of  the  signature  of  peace  between  England  and  Treaty  of 
the  United  States  of  America  w^as  announced  to  me  on  New  Ghent  (De- 
Year's  day  by  a  note  from  Lord  Castlereagh.    I  hastened  to  i8T4)^'^  ^^' 
offer  him  my  congratulations,  and  I  also  congratulated  myself 
on  the  event,  feeling  that  it  may  influence  both  the  disposition  of 
the  minister  and  the  resolution  of  those  with  whose  pretensions 
we  have  had  to  contend  hitherto.    Lord  Castlereagh  showed  me 
the  treaty.    It  does  not  touch  the  honor  of  either  of  the  two 
parties  concerned  and  consequently  it  will  satisfy  both. 

This  happy  intelligence  was  only  the  precursor  of  a  still  more 
fortunate  event.  The  spirit  of  the  coalition,  and  the  coalition 
itself,  had  survived  the  Peace  of  Paris.    My  correspondence  up 

1  The  anniversary  of  the  execution  of  Louis  XVL 


374  Readings  iji  Modei-Ji  European  History 

Hostility  of  to  the  present  time  has  supplied  your  Majesty  with  repeated 
the  allies  proofs  of  this.  If  the  plans  which,  on  arriving  here,  I  found 
France  ^^*^  been  formed,  had  been  carried  into  execution,   France 

might  have  stood  alone  in  Europe  without  being  in  good  rela- 
tions with  any  one  single  power  for  half  a  century  to  come. 
All  my  efforts  were  directed  to  the  prevention  of  so  great  a 
misfortune,  but  my  most  ardent  hopes  did  not  reach  the  height 
of  a  complete  success. 
Talleyrand  But  now,  sire,  the  coalition  is  dissolved,  and  forever.    Not 

forms  an  ^^^  does  France  no  longer  stand  alone  in  Europe,  but  your 
between  Majesty  is    already   in   an   alliance    such   as    it   seemed    that 

France,  fifty  years  of  negotiation  could  not   have  procured  for  her. 

ngan  ,        France  is  now  in  concert  with  two  of  the  greatest  powers  and 

Austria,  and  °  ^ 

lesser  powers  three  States  of  the  second  order,  and  will  soon  be  in  concert 
with  all  the  states  which  are  guided  by  other  than  revolutionary 
principles  and  maxims.  Your  Majesty  will  be,  in  reality,  the 
head  and  soul  of  that  union,  formed  for  the  defense  of  the  prin- 
ciples which  your  Majesty  has  been  the  first  to  proclaim. 

So  great  and  happy  a  change  is  only  to  be  attributed  to  that 
special  favor  of  Providence  which  was  so  clearly  indicated  by 
the  restoration  of  your  Majesty  to  the  throne.  Under  God,  the 
efficient  causes  of  this  change  have  been  : 

My  letters  to  Monsieur  de  Metternich  and  Lord  Castlereagh 
and  the  impressions  which  they  have  produced  ; 

The  suggestions  which  I  gave  Lord  Castlereagh  relative  to  a 
union  with  France,  and  of  which  I  gave  your  Majesty  an  account 
in  my  last  letter ; 

The  pains  I  have  taken  to  lull  his  distrust  by  exhibiting  per- 
fect disinterestedness  in  the  name  of  France ; 

The  peace  with  America,  which,  by  releasing  him  from  diffi- 
culty on  that  side,  has  left  him  more  liberty  of  action  and  given 
him  greater  courage ; 

^/^astly,  the  pretensions  of  Russia  and  Prussia,  as  set  forth 
in  the  Russian  project  of  which  I  have  the  honor  to  subjoin  a 
copy;  and  especially  the  manner  in  which  those  pretensions 
were  advanced  and  argued  in  a  conference  between  their  pleni- 
potentiaries and  those  of  Austria.  The  arrogant  tone  of  that 
insolent  and  nonsensical  document  so  deeply  offended  Lord 


Reconstructiofi  of  Europe  at  the  Congress  of  Viemia     375 

Castlereagh  that,  departing  from  his  habitual  cah-nness,  he  de- 
clared that  the  Russians  were  claiming  to  lay  down  the  law  and 
that  England  was  not  disposed  to  accept  that  from  anybody. 

In  a  brief  paper,  Frederick  von  Gentz,  the  Austrian 
statesman  and  secretary  to  the  Congress  of  Vienna, 
summed  up  his  opinion  of  the  principal  participants 
in  the  congress  and  described  the  maneuvers  of  the 
diplomats  for  points  of  vantage. 

The  emperor  of   Russia  has  come   to  Vienna,  in  the  first  181.  The 

place  to  be  admired  (which  is  always  the  principal  thinsj  in  his  "^^1^^  °* 
,  ,      N  1  1.  1,      ,      •  the  European 

thoughts),  and  next  to  direct  personally  the  important  arrange-  rulers  at  the 

ments  which  should  fix  the  boundaries  and  the  future  position  Congress  of 
of  the  many  states  which  claim  their  share  of  the  immense  ^^^°* 
spoil  which  is  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  allies  by  their 
success  against  the  common  enemy.  The  three  principal  ob- 
jects of  the  Emperor  Alexander  were  :  first,  to  take  possession 
forever  of  the  whole,  or  almost  the  whole,  of  the  duchy  of 
Warsaw,  with  the  exception  of  some  small  portions,  which  he 
would  give  to  the  two  neighboring  powers ;  second,  to  prevent 
Austria  from  profiting  too  much  by  the  advantages  of  her  new 
position  ;  third,  to  enrich  Prussia  as  much  as  possible,  not  only 
to  compensate  her  for  her  ancient  Polish  provinces,  which  he 
had  carried  away  from  her  by  surprise,  and  which  he  retained 
because  it  pleased  him  to  do  so,  but  also  to  make  her  a  useful 
and  powerful  ally,  the  only  one  on  whom  he  could  rely  in  the 
future.  Such  were  the  r<?^z/ objects  he  had  in  view;  the  ostensi- 
ble object  was  to  mingle  in  all  the  affairs  of  the  European 
nations,  and  to  pass  as  the  arbiter  of  their  destinies. 

On  arriving  at  Vienna  the  emperor  was  already  more  or  less  Alexander's 
embroiled  with  Austria,  England,  and  France.    His  displeasure  grievance 
with  Austria  was  chiefly  on  account  of  the  many  and  deep  Mettemich 
grievances  which  he  had,  or  pretended  to  have,  against  Prince 
Metternich.    The  first  and  true  origin  of  these  grievances  dated 
from  the  opposition  of  that  minister  to  the  emperor's  proposal 
to  become  himself  the  commander  in  chief  of  the  allied  armies. 
His  resentment,  which  was  restrained  during  the  first  period 


3/6  Readings  in  Hlodern  European  History 


Alexander's 
attitude 
toward  Eng- 
land and 
France 


of  the  war,  and  even  hidden  under  an  appearance  of  great 
friendliness,  broke  out  for  the  first  time  in  the  month  of  Decem- 
ber, 1813,  on  the  occasion  of  the  allies  entering  Switzerland,  — 
a  plan  which  all  good  generals  had  approved,  but  which  the  em- 
peror opposed,  because,  in  one  of  his  philanthropic  moods,  he 
had  given  his  word  to  some  Vaudois  apostles  of  liberty  that  the 
neutrality  of  Switzerland  should  be  respected.  Since  that  mo- 
ment there  has  been  no  return  of  harmony.  Angry  and  bitter  dis- 
cussions took  place  almost  every  day  during  the  last  part  of  the 
campaign,  and  by  the  time  the  allies  reached  Paris  they  pre- 
served, with  difficulty,  the  outward  appearance  of  a  friendliness 
which  had  no  longer  any  foundation.  The  emperor  accustomed 
himself  to  look  on  M.  de  Metternich  only  as  a  permanent  ob- 
stacle to  his  designs,  as  a  man  occupied  without  intermission 
in  opposing  and  thwarting  him  ;  at  last,  as  a  sworn  enemy.  .  .  . 

His  relations  with  England  (a  power  which  he  had  always 
cordially  detested,  and  which  he  only  cultivated  either  from 
interest  or  fear)  have  been  sensibly  disturbed  since  his  visit  to 
London.  Lord  Castlereagh  was  particularly  disagreeable  to  him ; 
he  called  him  cold  and  pedantic,  and  there  were  moments  in 
Vienna  when  he  would  have  treated  him  as  he  did  M.  de 
Metternich,  if  extreme  fear  of  openly  compromising  himself 
with  the  British  government  (the  only  one  before  whom  he 
trembled)  had  not  forced  him  to  dissimulate.  Neither  was 
the  emperor  inclined  to  friendly  relations  with  France.  He  had 
not  pardoned  the  king  for  having  adopted  a  system  of  govern- 
ment contrary  to  the  advice  w^hich  he  had  wished  to  give  him ; 
he  was  furious  against  Prince  Talleyrand,  who,  at  the  time  of 
the  allies  entering  Paris,  had  appeared  to  recognize  no  law 
but  the  will  of  the  Russian  emperor,  and  who,  four  weeks 
afterwards,  had  found  the  means  of  rendering  himself  inde- 
pendent. In  the  first  months  of  his  stay  in  Vienna  there  were 
some  violent  scenes  between  the  emperor  and  M.  de  Talley- 
rand ;  subsequently  Talleyrand  understood  how  to  impress  the 
emperor  by  his  cleverness,  his  repartees,  and  his  sazwirfaire ; 
but  the  secret  aversion  remained  the  same.   .  .  . 

Prussia  only  brought  to  the  congress  an  immoderate  desire 
for  extending  her  possessions  at  the  expense  of  the  whole 


Reconstructioii  of  Europe  at  the  Congress  of  Vieujia     2)77 

world,  and  without  regard  to  any  principle  of  justice  or  even  Russian 
of  decency.    This  passion  for  conquest  had  its  origin  neither  designs  on 
in  the  character  of  the  king  nor  of  his  prime  minister ;  for     ^^°"^ 
the  king,  although  below  mediocrity  in  intellect  and  judgment, 
is  yet  at  bottom  a  good  sort  of  man,  and  Chancellor  Harden- 
berg  one  of  the  best  that  ever  existed.    But  the  system  of  this 
court  does  not  depend  after  all  either  on  ^the  king  or  Prince 
Hardenberg.    This  system,  founded  and  pursued  for  the  last 
century,  has  found  fresh  support  in  the  general  enthusiasm  of 
the  nation,  in  the  energy  of  the  army,  and  in  the  irresistible 
power  which  a  certain  number  of  distinguished  military  men 
exercise  at  present  on  the  cabinet.    Since  the  moment  of  Prus- 
sia's resurrection,  the  principal  object  of  this  party  has  been 
the  total  acquisition  of  Saxony. 

Being  neither  able  nor  willing  to  compete  with  Russia,  they  Prussian 
transferred  all  their  designs  to  Germany  :   the  acquisition  of  f^piration  for 

r.  1  •  r,  ,,,.        leadership  in 

Saxony,  however  enormous  it  was,  was  for  them  but  the  begm-  Germany 
ning  of  a  grand  series  of  political  operations,  by  which  they 
hoped  sooner  or  later  to  unite  to  Prussia  the  largest  part  of 
the  north  of  Germany,  to  efface  the  influence  of  Austria,  and 
to  put  themselves  at  the  head  of  the  whole  German  Confed- 
eration. Reckoning  on  the  help  of  Russia  in  the  execution  of 
this  vast  scheme,  they  wished  at  least  to  carry  away  from  the 
congress  the  foundation  stone  of  their  new  edifice ;  and  if 
Austria  has  not  been  able  entirely  to  thwart  them,  she  still 
deserves  some  merit,  in  having  at  least  prevented  a  consid- 
erable part  of  their  schemes. 

England  appeared  at  Vienna  with  all  the  brilliancy  which  Failure  of 
she  owes  to  her  immense  successes,  to  the  prominent  part  which  England  to 
she  had  played  in  the  coalition,  to  her  unlimited  influence,  to  situation 
a  condition  of  strength  and  solid  prosperity  which  no  other 
power  has  attained  in  these  days,  and  lastly  to  the  respect  and 
fear  which  she  inspires  and  which  govern  her  relations  with 
all  the  other  governments.    In  profiting  by  these  advantages 
England  could  have  given  the  law  to  all  Europe  ;  by  making 
common  cause  with  Austria,  whose   interests  were  also  hers, 
she  might  have  prevented  the  aggrandisement  of  Russia,  made 
Prussia  fall  back  within  her  own  boundaries,  reestablished  a 


378  Readings  iji  Modern  Enropeaji  History 

true  equilibrium  in  Germany,  and  guaranteed  for  a  long  time 
the  repose  of  Europe.  England  renounced  this  noble  privilege, 
for  reasons  which  I  prefer  to  explain  on  another  occasion,  and 
which  touch  on  the  most  delicate  ground  in  this  history.  It  is 
true,  Lord  Castlereagh  for  some  time  resisted  the  ambitious 
schemes  of  Russia,  but  he  ended  by  abandoning  this  opposi- 
tion. Guided  by  the  purest  intentions,  but  with  some  radically 
false  views,  he  first  supported  Prussia's  designs  on  Saxony  to 
their  utmost  extent,  returned  later  to  a  course  more  in  con- 
formity with  just  principles,  and  more  favorable  to  Austria, 
but,  stopping  halfway,  he  finally  only  saved  a  part  of  Saxony 
by  a  thoroughly  bad  arrangement.  He  observed  in  all  the 
other  questions  (with  the  exception  of  those  directly  con- 
cerning England,  such  as  the  establishment  of  the  House 
of  Orange,  the  slave  treaty,  etc.)  a  neutrality  often  astonish- 
ing. But  though  capable  of  being  the  arbiter  of  Europe,  he 
gave  her  only  weak  and  partial  support.  This  was,  without 
doubt,  the  principal  cause  of  the  unsatisfactory  issue  of  the 
congress. 
French  min-  The  part  of  the  French  ministers  at  this  congress  was 
isters  on  the  (decidedly  the  most  simple  and  agreeable  of  all.  Everything 
relating  to  France  having  been  regulated  by  the  Treaty  of 
Paris,  they  had  nothing  to  demand  for  themselves,  and  could 
confine  themselves  to  watching  the  conduct  of  others.  Defend- 
ing the  feeble  against  the  strong  restrains  each  power  within  its 
proper  limits,  and  compels  it  to  work  in  good  faith  for  the  rees- 
itablishment  of  political  equilibrium.  To  do  them  justice,  their 
/general  course  has  been  in  accordance  with  these  principles, 
//  for  they  have  made  no  proposal,  started  no  scheme  tending 
y  directly  or  indirectly  to  the  least  change  in  the  stipulations  of 
^  the  Treaty  of  Paris,  to  the  slightest  extension  of  their  frontiers, 
or  to  any  pretension  whatever,  incompatible  w'ith  the  rights  of 
their  neighbors  or  general  tranquillity.  In  spite  of  all  the  laws 
w^hich  are  current  in  society,  of  all  the  schemes,  measures,  and 
intrigues  which  inveterate  hatred  against  France  has  falsely 
and  even  absurdly  attributed  to  her  ministers,  a  faithful  history 
cannot  refuse  them  this  honorable  testimony  ;  and  I,  who  have 
been  a  close  observer  of  everything,  and  am  better  able  to 


Recoiistructioji  of  Europe  at  the  Congress  of  Vienna     379 

write  this  portion  of  history  than  any  one  else,  I  am  the  first 
to  give  them  this  testimony. 

But  if  M.  Talleyrand  and  his  colleagues  have  never  worked 
against  the  general  good,  it  is  also  true  that  some  special 
obstacles  have  prevented  their  cooperating  in  it,  in  any  effica- 
cious manner.  In  the  first  place,  the  secret  article  of  the 
Treaty  of  Paris,  which  authorized  the  formerly  allied  powers 
to  arrange  the  division  of  the  countries  conquered  by  France, 
"according  to  arrangements  agreed  on  between  themselves," 
was  a  terrible  barrier  to  all  their  measures ;  and  if  the  power^ 
who,  like  Austria,  only  demanded  order  and  justice,  or,  like  V 
England,  were  willing  to  give  up  the  power  which  this  article  ^ 
allowed  them,  Russia  and  Prussia,  who  were  solely  guided  by  jj^ 
ambition  and  desire  of  acquisition,  would  never  have  suffered  y^^^ 
it.  This,  and  the  often  exaggerated  fear  of  the  other  powers; 
of  appearing  to  conspire  with  France,  will  explain  to  you  in  a 
great  measure  the  nullity  of  the  French  plenipotentiaries  in  all 
the  negotiations,  and  above  all  during  the  beginning  of  the 
congress.  Another  cause  contributed  very  much  to  this.  To 
hold  a  firm  and  imposing  attitude  against  cabinets  such  as  the 
Russian  and  Prussian,  who  considered  their  wills  as  almost 
irresistible,  France  must  be  prepared  and  perfectly  decided 
for  war.  She  pretended  to  be  so,  but  was  not  in  reality ;  and, 
when  once  the  secret  of  her  policy  was  suspected,  her  argu- 
ments could  no  longer  encourage  her  friends,  or  her  menaces 
terrify  her  enemies.  The  pr£5£Xlt^j^ejuQh-go yp mm eiiMo^gs 
only  for^eace  ;  believing  it  indispensable  for  reorganizing  the 
government,  the  finances,  the  commerce,  and  all  the  resources 
of  France,  it  looks  on  peace  as  the  only  means  of  solid  security, 
whilst  a  fresh  war  would  bring  alarming  chances  of  danger  and 
revolution.  .  .  . 

Austria  found  herself,  between  these  four  powers,  in  the  isolated  posi- 
most  embarrassing  position.  She  could  only  look  on  the  Em-  tionof  Austna 
peror  Alexander,  in  spite  of  all  his  protestations  of  friendship 
for  the  emperor,  as  a  declared  enemy,  and  on  Prussia,  always 
carried  away  by  her  own  rapacity  and  ambition,  as  the  insep- 
arable ally  of  this  enemy.  She  was  deterred  from  too  great  a 
friendship  with  France,  not  by  any  reason  of  direct  repugnance 


380  Readings  in  Modern  European  History 

or  distrust,  for  she  was  perfectly  convinced  of  her  loyal  and 
friendly  disposition,  but  by  what  is  called  respect  of  mankind, 
that  is  to  say,  by  the  fear  of  lowering  herself  in  public  opinion, 
by  leaguing  herself  openly  with  a  power  which  had  formerly 
been  the  common  enemy  of  Europe,  and  which  still  preserved 
its  bad  reputation  in  the  minds  of  the  multitude,  led  away  by 
the  hypocritical  declarations  of  the  Russian  and  Prussian  party. 
Austria,  Another  consideration  also  stopped  Austria.  Perfectly  agreed 

France,  and  ^^-^^  France  in  her  views  on  the  affairs  of  Poland  and  Germany, 
she  was  not  so  in  regard  to  those  of  Italy.  France  had  a  nat- 
ural interest  in  regaining  her  old  influence  in  Italy,  by  the 
reestablishment  of  the  deposed  branches  of  the  Bourbon  family 
at  Parma,  and  principally  at  Naples,  whilst  Austria  wished  first 
to  consolidate  her  own  power,  then  to  preserve  Parma,  which 
a  recent  and  formal  convention  had  secured  to  the  Empress 
Maria  Louisa,  and  also  to  support  the  king  of  Naples,  whose 
cause  she  had  embraced  from  the  wisest  and  most  powerful 
motives  of  political  interest. 

The  cabinet  of  Vienna  had  therefore  to  fear  that,  by  allying 
itself  too  closely  with  France,  whose  support  was  essentially 
useful  in  its  contests  with  Prussia  and  Russia,  it  might  have 
to  sacrifice  to  this  power  a  part  of  its  great  interests  in  Italy. 
This  is  why,  during  the  three  months  of  the  congress,  Austria 
has  always  remained  somewhat  separated  from  France,  and  it 
is  only  since  the  beginning  of  this  year  that  a  real  intimacy 
has  been  established  between  the  ministers  of  these  two  great 
powers. 

There  remained  then  only  England  as  any  support  to  Austria ; 
but  England  wished  for  peace,  peace  before  everything,  peace 
—  I  am  sorry  to  say  it  —  at  any  price  and  almost  on  any  con- 
ditions. Thus  Austria  was  absolutely  in  the  position  of  having 
to  rely  on  herself  alone,  against  Russia  and  Prussia  united ; 
she  had  but  one  ally,  who  would  follow  her  at  the  first  call, 
Bavaria  ;  if  war  broke  out,  she  could  rely  on  the  help  of  France, 
but  this  help  would  be  tardy  and  constrained,  and  would  turn 
the  opinion  of  all  the  rest  of  Germany  still  more  against  her. 
As  to  England,  decided  not  to  quarrel  with  any  one,  she  would 
not  even  give  a  subsidy  to  Austria. 


Reco7istrnction  of  Europe  at  the  Congress  of  Vieniia     381 

The  chief  provisions  of.  the  act  drawn  up  by  the 
Congress  of  Vienna  are  as  follows  : 

In  the  Name  of  the  Most  Holy  and  Undivided  Trinity.  182.  Chief 

The  Powers  who  signed  the  Treaty  concluded  at  Paris  on  provisions  of 
the  30th  of  May,  18 14,  having  assembled  at  Vienna,  in  Vienna 
pursuance  of  Article  XXXII  of  that  Act,  with  the  Princes 
and  States  their  Allies,  to  complete  the  provisions  of  the  said 
Treaty,  and  to  add  to  them  the  arrangements  rendered  neces- 
sary by  the  state  in  which  Europe  was  left  at  the  termination 
of  the  last  war ;  being  now  desirous  to  embrace,  in  one  com- 
mon transaction,  the  various  results  of  their  negotiations  for 
the  purpose  of  confirming  them  by  their  reciprocal  ratifications, 
have  authorized  their  plenipotentiaries  to  unite,  in  a  general 
instrument,  the  regulations  of  superior  and  permanent  interest, 
and  to  join  to  that  Act,  as  integral  parts  of  the  arrangements 
of  the  Congress,  the  Treaties,  Conventions,  Declarations,  Reg- 
ulations, and  other  particular  Acts,  as  cited  in  the  present 
Treaty.  .  .   . 

Art.  I.  The  Duchy  of  Warsaw,  with  the  exception  of  the  The  duchy 
provinces  and  districts  which  are  otherwise  disposed  of  by  the  °^  Warsaw 
following  Articles,  is  united  to  the  Russian  Empire.  It  shall 
be  irrevocably  attached  to  it  by  its  Constitution,  and  be  pos- 
sessed by  his  Majesty  the  Emperor  of  all  the  Russias,  his  heirs 
and  successors  in  perpetuity.  His  Imperial  Majesty  reserves 
to  himself  to  give  to  this  State,  enjoying  a  distinct  administra- 
tion, the  interior  improvement  which  he  shall  judge  proper. 
He  shall  assume  with  his  other  titles  that  of  Tsar,  King  of 
Poland,  agreeably  to  the  form  established  for  the  titles  attached 
to  his  other  possessions. 

The  Poles,  who  are  respective  subjects  of  Russia,  Austria, 
and  Prussia,  shall  obtain  a  Representation  and  National  Insti- 
tutions, regulated  according  to  the  degree  of  political  consid- 
eration, that  each  of  the  Governments  to  which  they  belong 
shall  judge  expedient  and  proper  to  grant  them.   .   .   . 

Art.  XV.  His  Majesty  the  King  of  Saxony  renounces  in  per-  Gains  of  Prus- 
petuity  for  himself,  and  all  his  descendants  and  successors,  in  ^'^  ^"  Saxony 
favor  of  his  Majesty  the  King  of  Prussia,  all  his  right  and  title 


382  Readhigs  ifi  Moderji  European  History 


The  kingdom 
of  Hanover 


The  German 
Confederation 


The  kingdom 
of  the  Nether- 
lands 


to  the  provinces,  districts,  and  territories,  or  parts  of  territories, 
of  the  Kingdom  of  Saxony,  hereafter  named ;  and  his  Majesty 
the  King  of  Prussia  shall  possess  those  countries  in  complete 
Sovereignty  and  property,  and  shall  unite  them  to  his  Monarchy. 
The  districts  and  territories  thus  ceded  shall  be  separated  from 
the  rest  of  the  Kingdom  of  Saxony  by  a  line,  which  henceforth 
shall  form  the  frontier  between  the  Prussian  and  Saxon  terri- 
tories, so  that  all  that  is  comprised  in  the  limit  formed  by  this 
line  shall  be  restored  to  his  Majesty  the  King  of  Saxony ;  but 
his  Majesty  renounces  all  those  districts  and  territories  that 
are  situated  beyond  that  line,  and  which  belonged  to  him  before 
the  war.   .  .  . 

Art.  XXVI,  His  Majesty  the  King  of  the  United  Kingdom 
of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  having  substituted  to  his  ancient 
title  of  Elector  of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire,  that  of  King  of 
Hanover,  and  this  title  having  been  acknowledged  by  all  the 
Powers  of  Europe,  and  by  the  Princes  and  Free  Towns  of 
Germany,  the  countries  which  have  till  now  composed  the 
Electorate  of  Brunswick-Luneburg,  according  as  their  limits 
have  been  recognized  and  fixed  for  the  future,  by  the  following 
Articles,  shall  henceforth  form  the  Kingdom  of  Hanover.   .  .  . 

Art.  LIII.  The  Sovereign  Princes  and  Free  To\\iis  of  Ger- 
many, under  which  denomination,  for  the  present  purpose,  are 
comprehended  their  Majesties  the  Emperor  of  Austria,  the  Kings 
of  Prussia,  of  Denmark,  and  of  the  Netherlands ;  that  is  to  say : 

The  Emperor  of  Austria  and  the  King  of  Prussia,  for  all  their 
possessions  which  anciently  belonged  to  the  German  empire ; 

The  King  of  Denmark,  for  the  Duchy  of  Holstein  ; 

And  the  King  of  the  Netherlands,  for  the  Grand  Duchy 
of  Luxemburg ;  establish  among  themselves  a  perpetual  Con- 
federation, which  shall  be  called  "The  Germanic  Confedera- 
tion."  .  .  . 

Art.  LXV.  The  ancient  United  Provinces  of  the  Nether- 
lands and  the  late  Belgic  Provinces,  both  within  the  limits 
fixed  by  the  following  Article,  shall  form  —  together  with  the 
countries  and  territories  designated  in  the  same  Article,  under 
the  Sovereignty  of  his  Royal  Highness  the  Prince  of  Orange- 
Nassau,    Sovereign    Prince    of    the    United    Provinces  —  the 


Reco7istriiction  of  Europe  at  the  Congress  of  Vienna     383 

Kingdom  of  the  Netherlands,  hereditary  in  the  order  of  suc- 
cession already  established  by  the  Act  of  the  Constitution  of 
the  said  United  Provinces.  The  title  and  the  prerogatives  of 
the  royal  dignity  are  recognized  by  all  the  Powers  in  the 
House  of  Orange-Nassau.  .  .  . 

Art.  LXXXVI.  The  States  which  constituted  the  former  Genoa 
republic  of  Genoa  are  united  in  perpetuity  to  those  of  his 
Majesty  the  King  of  Sardinia,  to  be,  like  the  latter,  possessed 
by  him  in  full  Sovereignty  and  hereditary  property;  and  to 
descend,  in  the  male  line,  in  the  order  of  primogeniture,  to 
the  two  branches  of  his  house,  viz.  :  the  royal  branch  and  the 
branch  of  Savoy- Carignan.   .  .  . 

Art.  XCIII.  In  pursuance  of  the  renunciations  agreed  upon  Lombardo- 
by  the  Treaty  of  Paris  of  the  30th  May,  18 14,  the  Powers  who  Venetia 
sign  the  present  Treaty  recognize  his  Majesty  the  Emperor  of 
Austria,  his  heirs  and  successors,  as  legitimate  Sovereign  of  the 
provinces  and  territories  which  had  been  ceded,  either  wholly 
or  in  part,  by  the  Treaties  of  Campo-Formio  of  1797,  of  Lune- 
ville  of  1 80 1,  of  Pressburg  of  1805,  by  the  additional  Conven- 
tion of  Fontainebleau  of  1807,  and  by  the  Treaty  of  Vienna  of 
1809;  the  possession  of  which  provinces  and  territories  his 
Imperial  and  Royal  Apostolic  Majesty  obtained  in  consequence 
of  the  last  war ;  such  as  Istria,  Austrian  as  well  as  heretofore 
Venetian,  Dalmatia,  the  ancient  Venetian  Isles  of  the  Adriatic, 
the  mouths  of  the  Cattaro,  the  City  of  Venice,  with  its  waters, 
as  well  as  all  the  other  provinces  and  districts  of  the  former 
Venetian  States  of  the  Terra  Firma  upon  the  left  bank  of  the 
Adige,  the  Duchies  of  Milan  and  Mantua,  the  Principalities  of 
Brixen  and  Trente,  the  County  of  Tyrol,  the  Vorarlberg,  the 
Austrian  Friuli,  the  ancient  Venetian  Friuli,  the  territory  of 
Montefalcone,  the  Government  and  Town  of  Trieste,  Carniola, 
Upper  Carinthia,  Croatia  on  the  right  of  the  Save,  Fiume  and 
the  Hungarian  Littorak,  and  the  District  of  Castua. 

Art.  XCIV.  His  Imperial  and  Royal  Apostolic  Majesty  shall 
unite  to  his  Monarchy,  to  be  possessed  by  him  and  his  suc- 
cessors in  full  property  and  Sovereignty  : 

I.  Besides  the  portions  of  the  Terra  Firma  in  the  Venetian 
States  mentioned  in  the  preceding  x^rticle,  the  other  parts  of 


384  Readings  in  Modern  European  History 

those  States,  as  well  as  all  other  territories  situated  between 
the  Tessino,  the  Po,  and  the  Adriatic  Sea. 

2.  The  Vallies  of  the  Valteline,  of  Bormio,  and  of  Chiavenna. 

3.  The  territories  which  formerly  composed  the  Republic 
of  Ragusa.  .  .  . 


183.  The 
Holy  Alliance 


Rulers  to  be 
guided  by 
religious  pre- 
cepts 


Fraternal 
Union 


Section  48.    The  Holy  Alliance  :  Metternich  becomes 
the  Chief  Opponent  of  Revolution 

The  Holy  Alliance  is  a  brief  document  which  is  given 
below  in  full. 

In  the  name  of  the  Most  Holy  and  Indivisible  Trinity. 

Their  Majesties  the  Emperor  of  Austria,  the  King  of  Prussia, 
and  the  Emperor  of  Russia,  having,  in  consequence  of  the  great 
events  which  have  marked  the  course  of  the  three  last  years  in 
Europe,  and  especially  of  the  blessings  which  it  has  pleased 
Divine  Providence  to  shower  down  upon  those  States  which 
place  their  confidence  and  their  hope  on  it  alone,  acquired  the 
intimate  conviction  of  the  necessity  of  settling  the  rules  to  be 
observed  by  the  Powers,  in  their  reciprocal  relations,  upon  the 
sublime  truths  which  the  Holy  Religion  of  our  Saviour  teaches  : 

They  solemnly  declare  that  the  present  Act  has  no  other 
object  than  to  publish,  in  the  face  of  the  whole  world,  their 
fixed  resolution,  both  in  the  administration  of  their  respective 
States  and  in  their  political  relations  with  every  other  Govern- 
ment, to  take  for  their  sole  guide  the  precepts  of  that  Holy 
Religion,  namely,  the  precepts  of  Justice,  Christian  Charity, 
and  Peace,  which,  far  from  being  applicable  only  to  private 
concerns,  must  have  an  immediate  influence  on  the  councils  of 
princes,  and  guide  all  their  steps,  as  being  the  only  means  of 
consolidating  human  institutions  and  remedying  their  imper- 
fections. In  consequence,  their  Majesties  have  agreed  on  the 
following  Articles  : 

Art.  I.  Conformably  to  the  words  of  the  Holy  Scriptures, 
which  command  all  men  to  consider  each  other  as  brethren,  the 
three  contracting  Monarchs  will  remain  united  by  the  bonds  of 
a  true  and  indissoluble  fraternity,  and,  considering  each  other 


Reconstruction  of  Enrope  at  the  Congress  of  Vieniia     385 

as  fellow-countrymen,  they  will,  on  all  occasions  and  in  all  places, 
lend  each  other  aid  and  assistance ;  and,  regarding  themselves 
towards  their  subjects  and  armies  as  fathers  of  families,  they  will 
lead  them,  in  the  same  spirit  of  fraternity  with  which  they  are 
animated,  to  protect  Religion,  Peace,  and  Justice. 

Art.  II.  In  consequence,  the  sole  principle  of  force,  whether  The  three 
between  the  said  Governments  or  between  their  Subjects,  shall  Princes  dele- 
be  that  of  doing  each  other  reciprocal  service,  and  of  testifying  ^ence  to  gov- 
by  unalterable  good  will  the  mutual  affection  with  which  they  em  three 
ought  to  be  animated,  to  consider  themselves  all  as  members  branches  of 

°  ...  .  .  one  family 

of  one  and  the  same  Christian  nation  ;  the  three  allied  Princes, 
looking  on  themselves  as  merely  delegated  by  Providence  to 
govern  three  branches  of  the  one  family,  namely,  Austria, 
Prussia,  and  Russia,  thus  confessing  that  the  Christian  world, 
of  which  they  and  their  people  form  a  part,  has  in  reality  no 
other  Sovereign  than  Him  to  whom  alone  power  really  belongs, 
because  in  Him  alone  are  found  all  the  treasures  of  love,  science, 
and  infinite  wisdom,  that  is  to  say,  God,  our  Divine  Saviour, 
the  Word  of  the  Most  High,  the  Word  of  Life.  Their  Majesties 
consequently  recommend  to  their  people,  with  the  most  ten- 
der solicitude,  as  the  sole  means  of  enjoying  that  Peace  which 
arises  from  a  good  conscience,  and  which  alone  is  durable,  to 
strengthen  themselves  every  day  more  and  more  in  the  prin- 
ciples and  exercise  of  the  duties  which  the  Divine  Saviour  has 
taught  to  mankind. 

Art.  III.  All  the  Powers  who  shall  choose  solemnly  to  avow 
the  sacred  principles  which  have  dictated  the  present  Act,  and 
shall  acknowledge  how  important  it  is  for  the  happiness  of 
nations,  too  long  agitated,  that  these  truths  should  henceforth 
exercise  over  the  destinies  of  mankind  all  the  influence  which 
belongs  to  them,  will  be  received  with  equal  ardor  and  affec- 
tion into  this  Holy  Alliance. 

Done  in  triplicate  and  signed  at  Paris,  the  year  of  Grace 

1815,  — th  September. 

2^  (L.  S.)  Francis 

(L.  S.)  Frederick  William 
(L.  S.)  Alexander 


386  Readings  m  Moderti  Europe  an  History 

Metternich,  who  was  the  leading  spirit  in  the  union 
among  the  powers  to  preserve  the  settlement  at  Vienna 
and  tranquillity  of  Europe,  laid  down  certain  precepts 
for  the  guidance  of  conservative  statesmen. 

184.  Views  of       The  world  desires  to  be  governed  by  facts  and  according  to 

Metternich      justice,  not  by  phrases  and  theories  :  the  first  need  of  society 
in  regard  to      .  .        .       ,    ,  1       •       /  1       •  •  , 

the  proper       is  to  be  maintained  by  strong  authority  (no  authority  without 

policy  of  the    real  Strength  deserves  the"  "namej^d  not  to  govern  itself.    In 
eoveraments   comparing  the  number  of  contests  between  parties  in  mixed 
governments,  and  that  of  just  complaints  caused  by  aberra- 
tions of  power  in  a  Christian  State,  the  comparison  would  not 
be  in  favor  of  the  new  doctrines.    The  first  and  greatest  con- 
cern for  the  immense  majority  of  isvery  nation  is  the  stability- 
of  the  laws  and' their,  uninterrupted  action — never  their  change. 
Therefore  let  the  governments  govern,  let  them  maintain  the.    y 
foundations  of  their  institutions,  both  ancient  and  modern  ;  for^ 
if  it  is  at  all  times  dangerous  to  touch  them,  it  certainly  would 
not  now,  in  the  general  confusion,  be  wise  to  do  so. 
Reformers  Let  the  governments  announce  this  determination  to  their 

should  never    people,  and  demonstrate  it  by  facts.    Let  them  reduce  the 
even  by  doctrinaires  to  silence  within  their  States,  and  show  their  con- 

indifference  tempt  for  them  abroad.  Let  them  not  encourage  by  their  atti- 
tude or  actions  the  suspicion  of  being  favorable  or  indifferent  to 
error ;  let  them  not  allow  it  to  be  believed  that  experience  has 
lost  all  its  rights  to  make  way  for  experiments  which  at  the 
least  are  dangerous.  Let  them  be  precise  and  clear  in  all  their 
words,  and  not  seek  by  concessions  to  gain  over  those  parties 
who  aim  at  the  destruction  of  all  power  but  their  own,  whom 
concessions  will  never  gain  over,  but  only  further  embolden  in 
their  pretensions  to  power. 
Precepts  for  Let  them  in  these  troublous  times  be  more  than  usually 
conservative  cautious  in  attempting  real  ameliorations,  not  imperatively 
claimed  by  the  needs  of  the  moment,  to  the  end  that  good 
itself  may  not  turn  against  them,  —  which  is  the  case  whenever 
a  government  measure  seems  to  be  inspired  by  fear. 

Let  them  not  confound  concessions  made  to  parties  with  the 
good  they  ought  to  do  for  their  people,  in  modifying,  according 


Reco7istruction  of  Europe  at  tJic  Congress  of  Vienna     387 

to  their  recognized  needs,  such  branches  of  the  administration 
as  require  it. 

Let  them  give  minute  attention  to  the  financial  state  of  their 
kingdoms,  so  that  their  people  may  enjoy,  by  the  reduction  of 
public  burdens,  the  real,  not  imaginary,  benefits  of  a  state  of 
peace. 

Let  them  be  just,  but  strong;  beneficent,  but  strict. 

Let  them  maintain  religious  principles  in  all  their  purity, 
and  -not  allow_tli£.  faith  to  ~t5^- attacked  and  morality  inter- 
preted according  to  the  social  contract  or  the  visions  of  fool- 
ish sectarians. 

Let  them  suppress  secret  societies,  that  gangrene  of  society. 

In  short,  kl^the^ejaS^-rrnm^clis^^^  their  union,  and  Union  for  the 

prove  to  the  world  that  while  it  exSts,  it""Tsi7eiTeficeiTt;'^fi4-rrisures  Preservation 
the  political  peace  of  Europe  ;  that  it  is  powerful  only  for  the  °    ""^"^"^  '  ^ 
maintenance  of  tranquillity  at  a  time  when  so  many  attacks  are 
directed  against  it ;  that  the  principles  which  they  profess  are 
paternal  and  protective,  menacing  only  the  disturbers  of  public 
tranquillity. 

The  governments  of  the  second  order  will  see  in  such  a  union 
the  anchor  of  their  salvation,  and  they  will  be  anxious  to  con- 
nect themselves  with  it.  The  people  will  take  confidence  and 
courage,  and  the  most  profound  and  salutary  peace  which  the 
history  of  any  time  can  show  will  have  been  effected.  This 
peace  will  first  act  on  countries  still  in  a  good  state,  but  will  not 
be  without  a  very  decided  influence  on  the  fate  of  those  threat- 
ened with  destruction,  and  will  even  assist  the  restoration  of 
those  which  have  already  passed  under  the  scourge  of  revolution. 

To  every  great  State  determined  to  survive  the  storm  there 
still  remain  many  chances  of  salvation,  and  a  strong  union 
between  the  States  on  the  principles  we  have  announced  will 
overcome  the  storm  itself. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


GENERAL 

The  best  general  bibliographies  for  the  various  phases  of  modem 
European  history  will  be  found  in  the  following  works  :  (a)  The  Cam- 
bridge Modern  History  (New  York,  1902  sqq)) :  Vol.  V,  T/te  Age  of  Louis 
XIV;  Vol.  VI,  The  Eighteenth  Century  (in  preparation) ;  Vol.  VIII, 
The  French  Revolution  ;  and  Vol.  IX,  iVapoleon.  (b)  Histoire  gmerale, 
edited  by  Lavisse  and  Rambaud  (Paris,  n.d.).  Vols.  VI-X.  Each  of 
these  gives  elaborate  lists  of  sources  and  waiters  for  each  chapter.  The 
Cambridge  Modern  History  is  the  fuller  and  more  recent  of  the  two,  but 
the  Histoire  generale  is  often  more  helpful  because  more  discriminating. 
For  Germany  one  may  consult  the  monumental  work,  Dahlmann- 
Waitz,  Qtiellenkunde  der  deutschen  Geschichte  (7th  ed.,  1 905-1906,  and 
supplementary  volume,  1907). 

There  are  two  especially  valuable  annual  publications  designed  to 
keep  pace  with  the  works  that  are  constantly  appearing  :  Jahresberichte 
der  Geschichtswissenschaft^  issued  under  the  auspices  of  the  Historical 
Association  of  Berlin.  Various  specialists  contribute  to  this  vast  under- 
taking, and  the  works  are  conveniently  classified  so  that  one  can  readily 
find  out  what  has  appeared  in  a  particular  field.  The  twenty-ninth 
annual  issue  should  appear  in  1908,  and  will  deal  with  the  publications 
of  the  year  1906,  for  it  is,  of  course,  impossible  to  have  the  volumes 
ready  at  the  end  of  the  year  to  which  they  relate.  For  France  we  have 
the  Repertoire  jnithodiqiie  de  V Histoire  moderne  et  contemporaine  de  la 
France,  edited  by  Briere  and  Caron.  This  contains  the  publications  of 
the  year,  including  pamphlets  and  articles  as  w^ell  as  books  relating  to 
the  history  of  France  since  i  500.  The  volume  for  1898  (the  first)  was 
published  in  1899.  That  for  1905  appeared  in  1907.  For  the  most 
recent  books  one  must  turn  to  the  current  historical  journals,  which 
contain  reviews  and  notes  usually  by  specialists  capable  of  passing 
expert  judgments  on  works  in  their  respective  fields.  Perhaps  the  best 
of  these  for  the  purpose  are  The  America7i  Historical  Review,  The  Eng- 
lish Historical  Review,  La  Revue  historique,  Revue  d" histoire  moderne  et 
contemporaine.  La  Revolution  fran^aise,  and  Die  Historische  Zeitschrift. 

389 


390  Readings  in  Alodern  European  History 

CHAPTERS   I-III 
Louis  XIV  and  the  War  of  the  Spanish  Succession 

General  The  best  general  work  on  the  period  covered  by  these  chapters  is 

treatments  jy^^  Cambridge  Modern  History,  Vol.  V,  The  Age  of  Louis  XIV,  New- 
York,  1906.  This  volume  is  full,  scholarly,  and  well  equipped  with  bib- 
liographical apparatus. 

Wakeman,  Europeafi  History,  1598-17 15,  1894.  Brief  and  excellent 
for  political  history. 

Dyer  and  Hassall,  Modern  Europe,  Vol.  IV.  Rather  antiquated 
but  still  useful. 

Airy,  The  English  Restoration  and  Louis  XIV  to  i68g,  and  Hale, 
The  Fall  of  the  Stuarts  and  Western  Europe,  are  two  little  volumes  in 
the  Epochs  of  Modem  History  Series. 

For  the  history  of  France  during  the  period:  Kitchix,  History  of 
France,No\.\\\;  Grant,  The  French  Mo7iarchy,  1483-1789;  Perkins, 
France  under  the  Regency  (opening  chapters),  and,  by  the  same  writer, 
Richelieu  and  Mazarin  ;  Hassall,  Louis  XIV  and  the  Zenith  of  the 
French  Monarchy  (Heroes  of  the  Nations  Series). 

These  may  be  supplemented  by  the  following  sources,  available  in 
English  : 

Saint-Simon,  Memoirs,  4  vols.  A  much-abridged  translation  of  the 
voluminous  original  (see  below). 

Life  and  Letters  of  Charlotte  Elizabeth,  Mother  of  Philippe  d'' Orleans, 
London,  1889.  A  selection  from  the  many  letters  which  a  German 
princess,  who  married  Louis  XIV's  brother,  dispatched  to  her  friends 
(see  below). 

COMTESSE  DE  PuLlGA,  Madajne  de  Sevigne,  her  Correspondents  and 
Contemporaries,  2  vols.,  London,  1873.  Gives  some  idea  of  this  charm- 
ing letter  writer  (see  below). 

Claude,  Jean,  The  Cruel  Persecutions  of  the  Protestants  in  the  King- 
dom of  France,  Boston,   1S93.    '^^^   author,  who   published   his   book 
immediately  after  the  revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  was  a  leading 
Huguenot  and  the  pastor  of  the  great  Protestant  church  at  Charenton, 
near  Paris. 
Materials  for         Histoire  generate,  edited  by  Lavisse  and  Rambaud,  Vol.  VI,  Chap- 
advanced         tgj-s  i^  lll_VIII.    Contains  excellent  bibliographies, 
reign  of  Histoire  de  France,  edited  by  Lavisse;  Vol.  VII,  Parts  I  and  II,  by 

Louis  XIV  Lavisse  (Louis  XIV,  1643-1685).  Vol.  VIII,  Part  I,  by  Rebelliau  and 
Sagnac  (the  closing  years  of  Louis's  reign),  is  announced  for  early 
publication. 


Bib  liography  391 

The  early  part  of  Louis's  reign  has  been  elaborately  treated  by  Che- 
RUEL,  Histoire  de  France  pendant  la  minorite  de  Louis  XIV,  and  His- 
toire  de  France  soics  le  ministere  de  Mazarin,  7  vols.,  1879-1883. 

CoRREARD,  Choix  de  iexies  pmir  servir  a  P etude  des  institutions  de  la 
France.  A  great  part  of  this  excellent  and  inexpensive  little  schoolbook 
is  devoted  to  the  reign  of  Louis  XIV. 

Vast,  Grands  Trait es  du  regnede  Louis  XIV,  1893.   Very  convenient. 

IsAMBERT,  Recueil  general  des  anciennes  lois.  Vols.  XVIII-XX. 
Contains  the  more  important  legislation. 

Spanheim,  EZECHIEL  (envoy  of  the  elector  of  Brandenburg  at  the 
court  of  Louis,  1 680-1 6S9),  Relation  de  la  cour  de  Frajice  eti  /6go 
(Societe  de  I'histoire  de  France). 

Of  memoirs  there  are  many  for  this  period.    The  chief  collections   Memoirs 
are  Nouvelle  Collection  de  memoires,  edited  by  Michaud  and  Poujoulat,  ^^^  letters 
34  vols.,  1854  ;  and  Archives  curieuses  de  V histoire  de  France,  edited  by 
CiMBER  and  Danjou,  27  vols.,  1874-1880.    The  following  writers  of 
memoirs  deserve  special  mention : 

Saint-Simon  (1675-1755),  Mevioires.  Saint-Simon  is  perhaps  the  Saint-Simon 
most  celebrated  of  memoir  writers.  He  began  to  make  notes  very  early, 
probably  in  1691,  but  did  not  commence  to  write  out  his  memoirs  in 
their  final  form  until  1740,  when  he  was  sixty-five  years  old.  The  events 
he  narrates  belong  to  the  period  1692-1723,  and  he  made  much  use  of 
the  Journal  of  Dangeau,  mentioned  below.  Saint-Simon's  admirable 
style  has  led  his  readers  to  overlook  his  inaccuracy  and  partiality,  for  he 
was  a  good  hater.  There  is  an  excellent  edition  of  the  Memoirs  edited 
by  Ch^ruel,  2d  ed.,  1S73-1877  (22  vols.),  cheaper  edition  in  thirteen 
vols.  About  half  of  a  new  edition  in  thirty  vols.,  edited  by  Boislisle, 
has  appeared  in  Les  Grands  Ecrivains  de  la  France. 

The  Letters  of  the  duchess  of  Orleans,  sister-in-law  of  Louis  and  Letters  of 
mother  of  the  regent  Philippe  of  Orleans,  form  an  interesting  source.  ^^^  duchess 
Important  for  the  latter  half  of  Louis's  reign.    Madame's  sharp  eyes  saw 
many  things,  and  she  wrote  very  freely  and  constantly  to  her  friends 
and  relatives.   There  are  a  number  of  French  translations  of  collections 
of  her  letters,  the  most  complete  of  which  is  that  edited  by  Jaegle,  • 

Paris,  3  vols.,  1890.    Ranke,  Franzosische  Geschichte,  Vol.  VI,  gives  a 
number  in  the  original  German. 

Dangeau  {i6t,^-\j  20),  Journal,  19  vols.,  1854-1860.  This  covers  the 
period  1684-1720,  and  was  written  day  by  day  by  a  well-informed  and 
conscientious  writer,  a  member  of  Louis's  court.  Saint-Simon  availed 
himself  generously  of  Dangeau's  facts,  often  adding  embellishments 
which  served  to  make  his  version  less  accurate. 


392  Readings  in  Modern  European  History 


The  French 
government 
under 
Louis  XIV 


The  Hugue- 
nots 


Literature 


Internal 
history  of 
England 


Madame  de  Sevigni^  (1626-1696),  Lettres.  The  charming  letters  of 
this  charming  lady  are  very  numerous  and  relate  mainly  to  the  years 
1670-1696.  The  most  complete  of  many  editions  is  that  edited  for 
Les  Grands  Ecrivains  de  la  France  by  MoNMERQut,  14  vols.,  1862-1868, 
including  elaborate  indices.  Several  volumes  of  selections  have  been 
published. 

For  the  governmental  system  and  the  work  of  Colbert,  see  especially 
Clement,  Lettres,  Inst^-uctions  et  Mhnoires  de  Colbert,  7  vols. ;  Depping, 
Correspondance  admitiistrative  sons  le  regne  de  Louis  XLV,  4  vols. ; 
BoiSLiSLE,  Correspondance  des  controleurs  generatix,  2  vols.  To  these 
collections  of  materials  should  be  added  the  following  works  of  first- 
rate  importance :  Hanotaux,  Origine  de  P institution  des  intoidafits, 
1884;  Clamageran,  LListoire  de  Vimpot  en  France,  3  vols.,  1867-1868  '■> 
Levasseur,  LListoire  des  classes  ouvrieres,  2d  ed. ;  Recueil  des  instructio7is 
donnees  aux  ambassadeurs  et  ministres  de  France  depuis  les  traites  de 
Westphalie  Jusqu^a  la  revolution  franfaise,  16  vols.,  1884  sqq.  This 
collection  is  edited  by  various  hands  and  contains  the  text  of  the  more 
important  documents  and  analyses  of  other  sources  for  the  foreign  policy 
of  France. 

For  the  Huguenots  :  Benoit  (d.  1728),  LListoire  de  Vedit  de  Nantes, 
5  vols..  Delft,  1693-1695.  A  celebrated  work  completed  not  long  after 
the  revocation  of  the  edict,  Recueil  des  edits,  declarations  et  arrets  con- 
cernans  la  religion  pretendue  reformee,  new  edition,  1885.  The  brothers 
Haag  have  given  a  very  complete  history  of  French  Protestantism  in 
their  France  protestante,  2d  ed.,  10  vols.,  1877-1895.  The  Societe  de 
I'histoire  du  Protestantisme  fran9ais  has,  since  1853,  published  a  vast 
amount  of  important  material  in  its  Bulletin,  of  which  some  sixty  vol- 
umes have  appeared. 

LListoire  de  la  langue  et  de  la  litterature  franfaise,  edited  by  PETIT  DE 
JULLEVILLE,  Vol.  V,  fumishes  an  introduction  to  the  literature  of  the 
period. 

For  England  at  this  time  the  most  famous  work  is,  of  course, 
Macaulay,  Llistory  of  England,  published  in  many  editions.  It  closes 
with  the  death  of  William  III ;  it  is  a  splendid  apology  for  the  Revo- 
lution. It  may  be  helpfully  supplemented  by  the  dryer  work  of  Hallam, 
Constitutional  LListory  of  England,  also  issued  in  many  editions.  The 
reign  of  Anne  is  fully  treated  in  Burton,  LListory  of  the  Reign  of  Queen 
Anne,  3  vols.,  1880.  A  shorter  but  more  interesting  account  is  Paul, 
Life  of  Queeji  Anjie,  1906. 


Bibliography  393 

There  is,  o£  course,  an  enormous  mass  of  material  available  on  all  Sources  for 
of  the  English  aspects  of  the  period ;  for  valuable  classified  lists,  con-  the  history 
suit  the  bibhographies  appended  to  Vol.  V  of  The  Camh-idge  Modern  ^^  England 
History,    The  Works  of  Sir  William  Temple.,  4  vols.,  1755,  will  be  found 
especially  useful  for  English  and  foreign  affairs  during  the  latter  part 
of  the  seventeenth  century,  for  the  author  was  extremely  well  versed 
in  continental  diplomatic  affairs.    Burnet  (1643-17 15),  History  of  My 
07i'H  Time,  edited  by  Airy,  2  vols.,  with  a  supplementary  volume,  1897, 
is  especially  valuable  for  its  character  sketches,  and,  in  spite  of  its  warm 
"Whig  sympathies,  is  an  honest  piece  of  work. 

CoBBETT,  Parlia7}ie7itary  History,  1808-1S09,  contains,  in  addition  to 
a  record  of  the  transactions  in  Parliament,  a  large  number  of  important 
state  papers  and  documents.  Indispensable  for  any  advanced  work  in 
political  histor}\ 

There  are  two  great  collections  of  tracts  and  pamphlets  belonging 
in  part  to  this  period:  Harleian  Miscellany,  edited  by  Park,  10  vols., 
1808-1813;  zxvdSofners  Tracts,  edited  by  Scott,  13  vols.,  1809-1815. 

The  lives  and  works  of  the  leading  statesmen,  diplomats,  and  polit- 
ical w^riters  like  Danby,  Algernon  Sidney,  Shrewsbury,  the  duke  of 
Buckinghamshire,  Hobbes,  Locke,  Defoe,  Steele,  and  Addison  are 
described  in  the  Dictionary  of  N^ational  Biography,  now  appearing  in  a 
new  edition,  somewhat  less  expensive  than  the  first. 

For  the  War  of  the  Spanish  Succession,  consult  Stanhope,  History  War  of  the 
of  the  War  of  Succession  in  Spain,  1832,  a  dry  but  valuable  account;  Spanish 
Gerard,  The  Peace  of  Utrecht,  1885,  which  is  really  a  history  of  the  war ; 
and  the  lives  of  Marlborough,  by  Coxe  (in  three  volumes,  1818-1819), 
and  by  Alison,  2d  ed.,  1852.  On  the  English  interests  involved,  Seeley, 
Growth  of  B7-itish  Policy,  2  vols.,  1895,  is  very  suggestive.  For  the 
maritime  operations  see  Corbett,  England  ift  the  Mediterra^iean, 
iddo-iyij,  1904  ;  and  Mahan,  The  Influence  of  Sea  Pozver  upofi  History  ^ 
1660-178 J,  1889. 

The  leading  authority  on  the  War  of  the  Spanish  Succession  is 
LiEGRELLE,  La  Diplo?natie  franfaise  et  la  succession  d'Espagne,  4  vols., 
Paris,  1 888-1 892. 

For  the  early  phases  of  the  diplomatic  negotiations,  Mignet,  Nego- 
ciations  relatives  h  la  succession  d^Espagne  sous  Louis  XIV,  4  vols.,  Paris, 
1835-1842. 

For  the  documents  relative  to  the  settlement  at  Utrecht,  Dumont, 
Corps  universel  diplo??iatique.  There  is  an  exhaustive  collection  of 
papers  :  Actes,  Memoires,  et  autres  Pieces  authentiques  concernant  la  paix 
d'' Utrecht,  6  vols.,  Utrecht,  17 14-17 15. 


394  Readings  in  Modern  European  History 

The  papers,  works,  and  memoirs  of  Torcy,  Villars,  Catinat,  Tallard, 
Marlborough,  Villeroy,  Bolingbroke,  Dean  Swift,  and  other  writers  and 
men  of  action  are  enumerated  in  the  bibliographies  of  The  Cambridge 
Modern  History,  Vol.  V. 


CHAPTERS   IV-V 


The  Political  History  of  Europe  from  the  Peace 
OF  Utrecht  to  the  French  Revolution 

General  Hassall,  European  History,  iji^-iySg,  is  the  best  brief  history  of 

treatments  the  period.  General  accounts  from  the  English  standpoint  are  to  be 
in  English  fQ^J^J  ^j^  SxANHOPE,  History  of  England  from  lyij  to  lySj,  7  vols., 
5th  ed.,  1858;  and  in  Lecky,  History  of  England  in  the  Eighteeiith 
Century,  7  vols.,  cabinet  edition.  On  the  French  side  of  the  European 
struggle  :  KiTCHiN,  History  of  France,  Vol.  Ill ;  Perkins,  France  under 
the  Regency,  and,  France  under  Lojiis  XV  (2  vols).  Vol.  VI  of  The 
Cambridge  Moder7i  History  doubtless  will  be  the  most  useful  work  in 
English  w'hen  it  appears. 

Prussia  Chaps,  xx  and  xxi  in  Vol.  V  of    The  Cambj-idge  Moder?i  Histojy 

are  excellent  for  the  rise  of  Prussia.  Tuttle,  Histnry  of  Prussia,  4 
vols.,  will  be  found  valuable  for  the  Great  Elector  and  the  early  years 
of  Frederick  the  Great.  The  most  famous  work  in  English  on  Frederick 
the  Great  is  Carlyle,  Frederick  the  Great,  published  in  numerous 
editions ;  it  contains  many  extracts  from  Frederick's  letters  and  other 
sources.  Brief  accounts  of  Frederick's  period:  Longman,  Frederick 
the  Great ;  and  (more  recent)  Reddaway,  Frederick  the  Great  and  the 
Rise  of  Prussia,  1904  (Heroes  of  the  Nations  Series). 

Russia  Chaps,   xvi  and  xvii  of  Vol.  V  of  The  Cambridge  Modern  History 

are  good  introductory  surveys  of  the  rise  of  Russia  and  the  reign  of 
Peter  the  Great.  Rambaud,  History  of  Russia,  Vols,  I  and  II,  is  the 
best  general  account.  Schuyler,  Peter  the  Great,  1884,  is  the  standard 
life  of  the  Tsar  in  English.  Waliszewski,  Life  of  Peter  the  Great, 
translated  from  the  French,  is  excellent  and  recent. 

Turkey  Lane-Poole,  Stanley,  Turkey  (Story  of  the  Nations).    By  a  well- 

known  authority.  Creasy,  History  of  the  Ottoman  Turks,  is  based  on 
the  great  German  work  of  Von  Hammer  which  is  in  ten  volumes. 

Austria  There  is  no  satisfactory  extended  treatment  of  Austria  in  English. 

The  old  work,  Coxe,  House  of  Aust?-ia,  is  still  useful,  though  some« 
what  antiquated.   The  political  aspects  of  the  life  of  Maria  Theresa  are 


Bibliography  395 

briefly  reviewed  in  Bright,  Maria  Theresa,  1897,  a  little  volume  in  the 
Foreign  Statesmen  Series. 

The   bibliographies   appended   to   the   volumes    of    The    Cambridge  Materials  for 
Modern  History  and  the  Histoire  gaterale  are  invaluable  guides ;   also  advanced 
the  great  German  bibliography,  Dahlmann-Waitz,  Quelle7ikunde  der 
dentschen  Geschichte,  yth  ed.,  1 905-1907. 

Bruckner,  Peter  der  Grosse,  1879  (Oncken  Series). 

Droysen,  Geschichte  der  preussischen  Politik,  14  vols.,  ending  with 
the  year  1756.  The  most  elaborate  history  of  Prussia,  by  an  excellent 
historian. 

Erdmansdorfer,  Deutsche  Geschichte  vom  Westphdlischen  Friede^i 
bis  Z2im  RegiernJigsantritt  Friedrichs  des  Grossen,  2  vols.,  1892-1893 
(Oncken  Series).    Well  illustrated. 

Von  Zwiedineck-Sudenhorst,  Deutsche  Geschichte  im  Zeitraum 
der  Grihidufig  des  preussischen  Konigthums,  2  vols.,  1 890-1 894. 

Berner,  Geschichte  des  preussischen  Staats,  1891.  Elaborately 
illustrated. 

Waddington,  n Acquisitioti  de  la  couronne  royale  de  Prusse  par  les 
Hohenzollern,  1888. 

Forster,  F.,  Friedrich  Wilhelm  der  Erste,  3  vols.,  1834-1835.  An 
excellent  old  life  of  Frederick's  father,  with  much  illustrative  material. 

There  are  naturally  a  good  many  books  about  Frederick  the  Great.  Frederick 
The  chief  sources  for  his  reign  are  his  own  works,  especially  his  let-  the  Great 
ters  :  CEuvres  de  Frederic  le  Grand,  30  vols.,  Berlin,  2d  ed.,  1846-1857  ; 
Politische  Korrespondenz  Friedrichs  des  Grossen,  25  vols.,  1879  ^1i-> 
edited  by  Koser  and  other  scholars.  Reinhold  Koser  is  perhaps  the 
greatest  living  authority  on  Frederick.  Besides  many  articles,  he  has 
published  Friedrich  der  Grosse  als  Kronprinz,  1886,  and  an  account  of 
his  reign  in  Konig  Friedrich  der  Grosse,  2  vols.,  4to,  2d  ed.,  1901-1903. 
Lavisse  has  dealt  with  the  earlier  years  of  Frederick  :  La  Jeunesse  du 
Grand  Frederic,  1891,  and  Le  Grand  Frederic  avatit  Vavenement.  See, 
also,  Paul-Dubois,  Frederic  le  Grand d''apres  sa  correspondance politique. 

There  are  two  careful  histories  of  the  Seven  Years'  War:  Schaefer,  The  Seven 
Der  Siebenjdhj-ige  Krieg,  3  vols.,  1867-1874;  and  Waddington,  La  Years' War 
Guerre  de  Sept  Ans,  1899  sqq.  Four  volumes  of  this  French  work  have 
appeared,  completing  the  year  1761.  To  these  may  be  added  Krones, 
Handbuch  der  Geschichte  Oesterreichs,Y  o\s.  III-IV;  Arneth,  Geschichte 
Maria  Theresas,  10  vols.,  1863-1879,  the  standard  biography;  and  sev- 
eral monographs  by  the  Due  de  Broglie,  Frederic  LL  et  Maria  Theresa, 
1883,  etc.  Corbett,  England  in  the  Seven  Years'  War,  1908,  lays  special 
emphasis  on  the  maritime  aspects  of  the  conflict.    A  German  view  of 


396 


Readings  in  Modern  European  History 


Pitt  and  the  war  is  to  be  found  in  the  monumental  work  (translated 
into  English)  by  Ruville,  William  Fiit,  Earl  of  Chathatn,  3  vols.,  1907. 


European 
colonization 
in  general 


Materials  for 

advanced 

study- 


Expansion  of 
England 


The  French 
in  India 


CHAPTERS  VI-VII 

The  Expansion  of  Europe 

Payne,  E.  J.,  History  of  European  Colonies  ;  also,  by  the  same  author, 
The  Cambridge  Modern  Histofy,  Vol.  I,  chaps,  i-ii ;  Cheyney,  The  Euro- 
peaji  Background  of  American  History  {K.xvL&rvc2iX\.  Nation  Series),  1904; 
Morris,  History  of  Colonizatiofi,  2  vols.,  1900.  A  useful  account  of 
colonization  from  the  earliest  times  (the  second  volume  deals  largely 
with  English  colonization;  good  bibliographies).  Mahan,  The  Influ- 
ence of  Sea  Power  upon  History,  iddo-iySj,  1 889. 

ZiMMERMANN,  Die  europdische  Kolojiieu,  5  vols.,  1 896-1 903:  Vol.  I 
on  Spain  and  Portugal;  Vols.  II-III,  Great  Britain;  Vol.  IV,  France; 
Vol.  V,  The  Netherlands.  Leroy-Beaulieu,  La  Colo7iisation  chez  les 
peuples  moderjies,  new  ed.,  1906.  The  best  general  work  in  French.  De 
Lannoy  and  Vander  Linden,  Histoire  de  P expansion  des  peuples 
europeens :  Portugal  et  Espagne,  1907,  brings  the  account  of  these  two 
colonizing  nations  down  to  the  opening  of  the  nineteenth  century,  lay- 
ing stress  on  administrative  policies  and  social  conditions. 

Woodward,  A  Short  History  of  the  Expansion  of  the  British  Empire, 
2d  ed.,  1902.  Seeley,  Expansion  of  Efzglajid,  1883  (a  brilliant  series  of 
lectures) ;  and,  by  the  same  writer,  The  Growth  of  British  Policy,  2  vols., 
1905;  not  a  consecutive  narrative  but  general  consideration  of  the 
intimate  relations  of  European  history  with  the  struggle  for  world  com- 
merce and  empire.  Edgerton,  A  Short  History  of  British  Colonial 
Policy,  1897.  Best  work  for  review  of  British  policy.  LucAS,  A  His- 
torical Geography  of  the  British  Colonies,  6  vols.,  1888-1907.  The 
introductory  volume  (revised  ed.,  1906)  gives  an  excellent  outline 
and  bibliographies. 

The  sources  for  the  beginnings  of  English  expansion  are  to  be  sought 
principally  in  the  Calendars  of  State  Papers,  Colonial  Series,  and  in  the 
extensive  publications  of  the  Hakluyt  Society,  old  series,  94  vols.,  1847- 
1896;  new  series,  15  vols.,  1899-1907. 

(For  works  on  the  English  and  French  in  India,  see  below.) 

Weber,  La  Cojnpagnie  fran^aise  des  Indes,  1604-18^^,  1904. 

For  the  earlier  adventures  which  led  to  Portuguese  supremacy  on  the 
seas,  consult  Major,  Life  of  Prince  Henry  of  Portugal,  the  jVavigator, 


Bibliography  397 

1868.    Danvers,  The  Portuguese  in  India,  2  vols.,  1894,  the  standard   The  Portu- 
work  on  the  subject,  is  based  on  a  careful  examination  of  the  archives,  guese 
It  may  be  helpfully  supplemented  by  Stephens,  Albnqiierque  and  the 
Portuguese  Settlements  in  India  (Rulers  of  India  Series),  1892. 

BuRNELL  and  TiELE,  The  Voyage  of  Jan  Huyghen  van  Linschoten  to  The  Dutch 
the  East  Indies,  2  vols.,  1885  (Hakluyt  Society  Publications).    This  work 
serves  as  an  excellent  introduction  to   Dutch  operations.    The  great 
source  for  the  Dutch  trading  expeditions  is  the  old  Recueil  des  voyages 
de  la  Compagnie  des  Indes  orientates  des  Hollandois,  10  vols.,  1730. 

The  best  work  on  the  foundation  of  Spanish  dominion  in  America  is  The  Spanish 
Bou?iNE,  Spain  in  America  (American  Nation  Series),  with  excellent 
bibliography. 

Farrand,  Basis  of  American  History,  1904.  A  critical  account  of  The  English 
the  American  world  into  which  the  settlers  came.  Lodge,  A  Short  His-  ^"  America 
iory  of  the  English  Colonies  in  America,  1 88 1.  A  useful  single-volume 
work.  Thwaites,  The  Colo7ties,  14^2-1^^0,  1894,  in  Epochs  of  Ameri- 
can History.  A  remarkably  compact  work,  with  bibliographies.  Will- 
son,  Beckles,  The  Great  Company,  an  account  of  the  Hudson  Bay- 
Company.  Edgar,  The  Struggle  for  a  Continent,  1902.  The  best  con- 
cise history  of  the  Anglo-French  contest  in  America. 

Doyle,  The  English  in  America,  5  vols.,  1882-1903,  and  Osgood, 
The  A?nerican  Colonies  in  the  Seventeenth  Century,  3  vols.,  1904- 1 907, 
are  the  authorities  for  the  colonial  period.  Channing,  A  History  of  the 
United  States,  to  be  completed  in  8  vols.  Vols.  I-II,  covering  the  period 
1000-1760  have  appeared.  An  insight  into  the  character  of  the  colonial 
age  is  afforded  by  Bradford,  History  of  the  Plymouth  Colony  ;  Cotton 
Mather,  Magnalta ;  Smith,  Histo7y  of  Virginia ;  Johnson,  Wonder- 
Working  Providence ;  and  Budd,  Good  Order  established  in  Pennsyl- 
vania and  N'eiv  Jersey,  1685. 

For  the  French  in  America,  the  voluminous  writings  of  Parkman 
are  indispensable. 

The  Jesuit  Relations  and  Allied  Documents,  edited  by  Thwaites, 
73  vols.,  1896  sqq.  A  vast  collection  of  the  accounts  of  Jesuit  explora- 
tions and  activities  in  America. 

Beer,  British  Colonial  Policy,  ly ^4-1^6^,  1907,  should  be  studied  by 
any  one  seeking  the  causes  of  the  Revolution. 

Trevelyan,  The  American  Revolution,  3  vols.,  1899- 1907,  a  useful 
corrective  for  the  bias  displayed  by  many  American  historians. 

For  a  full  bibliography  the  student  will  turn  to  Channing  and 
Hart,  Guide  to  the  Study  of  American  History. 


39^  Readings  in  Modern  Europea7i  History 

British  India  Lyall,  The  Rise  of  British  Dojninion  in  India,  1893.    The  best  short 

account.  Willson,  Beckles,  Ledger  and  Sword.  An  account  of  the 
policy  of  the  English  East  India  Company.  Hunter,  Brief  History  of 
the  Indian  Peoples  (especially  valuable  for  native  affairs) ;  also,  by  the 
same  author,  A  Histoiy  of  British  India,  2  vols.,  1899-1900.  This  excel- 
lent, fuller  history  breaks  off  unfortunately  at  the  opening  of  the 
eighteenth  century. 

There  are  also  useful  books  by  Malleson  :  The  Founders  of  the 
Indian  E??tpire,  1882  ;  History  of  the  French  in  India,  1868  ;  and  Final 
French  Struggles  in  India,  1878. 

India  under  Elphinstone,  History  of  India  ;  the  Hindu  and  Mohametan  Periods, 

Mohammedan  ^^j^  ^^^  j^^^     ^^^  ^j^  ^^^  g^-jj  valuable  work. 

The  accounts  of  two  French  travelers  (translated  into  English)  are 
both  interesting  and  useful:  Bernier,  Travels  in  the  Mughul  Empire, 
16^6-1668,  1891  ;  and  Tavernier  (1605-1689),  Travels  in  India,  1889. 
Manucci,  Storia  do  Mogor,  or  Mogul  India,  ib^j-i'joS,  is  a  work  by  an 
Italian  traveler,  giving  a  vivid  picture  of  India  in  the  latter  half  of  the 
seventeenth  century. 

Elliott,  History  of  India,  as  told  by  its  own  Historians,  8  vols., 
1867-1877.  Contains  selections  from  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  works 
by  Arabian,  Persian,  and  native  Indian  annalists  and  chroniclers. 


Sources  for  In  the  Hakluyt  Society  publications  the  following  should  be  specially 

rise  and  noted :  The  Embassy  of  Sir  Thomas  Roe,  2  vols.,  and  The  Diary  of  Hedges, 

r  .,     p  The  East  India  Company :   Dawn  of  British  Trade  to  the  East  Indies, 

lish  Company   London,  1886.    Based  on  the  records  of  the  court  minutes  of  the  Com- 
pany, 1 599-1603. 

The  East  India  Compafiy  :  Letters  received  by  the  East  India  Com- 
pany from  its  Servants  in  the  East,  1602-161J,  6  vols.,  1896-1902. 

Foster,  The  English  Factories  in  India,  16 18-162 1,  1907.  A  calen- 
dar of  documents  forming  an  invaluable  supplement  to  the  above. 

Works  on  the         For  the  French  side,  Hamont,  Dupleix,  1 881,  and  Lally-Tollendalf 

establishment    J887,  are  indispensable. 

o^r^^r^o^,.  The  biographies  of  Clive,  Colonel  Stringer  Lawrence,  and  Captain 

Dalton,  and  the  bibliographical  notes  attached,  should  be  consulted  in 
the  Dictionary  of  Auitional  Biography. 

Military  affairs  are  fully  treated  in  the  work  by  Orme,  History  of  the 
Military  Transactiotis  of  the  British  Nation  in  India  from  174S  to  Ij6i, 
3  parts,  1763-1778.  A  laborious  work  by  an  old  Indian  servant  who  had 
access  to  the  Company's  records  and  possessed  large  collections  of 
documents  of  his  own. 


supremacy 


Bib  liogi'aphy  399 

The  best  brief   account   of   Warren   Hastings   is   Lyall,    Warren  Warren 
Hastings  (English  Men  of  Action  Series).    Strachey,  Hastings  and  the  Hastings 
Rohilla  War,  removes  many  misconceptions  of  Hastings's  work  in  India. 


CHAPTERS  VIII-XI 

The  Old  Regime  in  Europe,  the  RefoRxMers,  and  the 
Enlightened  Despots 

The   Cambridge  Modern  History,  Vol.  VII.    This  volume,  now  in  The  general 
preparation,  will  doubtless  give  a  better  account  than  has  yet  appeared  social  and 
in  English  of  the  general  condition  of  Europe  previous  to  the  French  ,.  . 

Revolution.    It  will  also  contain  elaborate  bibliographies. 


The  social  conditions  in  England  are  described  in  Sydney,  W.  G.,  England 
England  and  the  English  in  the  Eighteenth  Century,  2  vols.,  1891  ; 
Besant,  Sir  W.,  London  in  the  Eighteenth  Century,  1903  (very  read- 
able but  not  wholly  reliable) ;  Cunningham,  W.,  Grorvth  of  English 
Industry  and  Commerce  iti  Modern  Times,  2  vols.,  1903  (the  latest  and 
most  authoritative  treatment) ;  Traill,  H,  D.,  Social  England,  1904  (a 
topical  history  by  various  hands.  See  Vol.  V,  especially  chap.  xix). 
These  may  be  enlivened  by  Madame  d'Arblay,  Diary  and  Letters  ; 
Lord  Chesterfield,  Letters  and  Sketches  ;  Lady  Montague,  Letters  ; 
and  Walpole,  Horace,  Letters.  Also,  Moritz,  K.  P.,  Travels,  chiefly 
on  Foot,  through  Several  Parts  of  England  in  1^82,  in  PiNKERTON, 
Voyages  and  Travels,  Vol.  II,  1 808-1 81 4. 

For  France  the  best  introduction  in  English  is  Lowell,  E.  J.,  The  France 
Eve  of  the  Freiich  Revohition,   1892.     A  more  popular  account,  with 
illustrations,  may  be  found  in  MacLehose,  Sophia  H.,  The  Last  Days 
of  the  French  Monarchy. 

De  Tocqueville,  State  of  Society  in  France  before  the  Revolution. 
A  very  remarkable  philosophical  treatise  on  the  character  and  policy  of 
the  French  government.  This  should  be  studied  with  the  utmost  care 
by  all  students  of  the  period.  A  new  edition  of  the  French  original, 
with  introduction  and  notes,  Oxford,  Clarendon  Press,  1904. 

Taine,  The  Ancient  Regime.  A  brilliant  w^ork.  The  chapters  on  the 
society,  literature,  and  philosophy  of  the  period  are  the  best ;  those  on 
the  economic  conditions  are  disappointing. 

Translations  and  Reprints  (Univ.  of  Pennsylvania),  Vol.  V,  No.  2, 
Protest  of  the  Cour  des  Aides  of  lyy^.  A  very  extraordinary  indictment 
of  the  Ancien  Regime  presented  to  the  king  by  his  magistrates  during 


400  Readings  in  Modern  European  History 

Turgot's  administration.  No  single  document  on  the  Ancien  Regitne  is 
better  worth  careful  study. 

Young,  Arthur,  Travels  i?i  France,  1787,  1788,  and  i78g,  Bohn 
edition  (somewhat  abridged).  This  oft-quoted  work  should  be  familiar 
to  every  student  of  the  French  Revolution. 

In  order  to  make  a  thorough  study  of  the  conditions  in  France  and 
the  other  European  countries  it  is  necessary  to  turn  to  French  and 
German  works  ;  among  these  the  following  are  of  great  importance. 

SoREL,  Albert,  L' Europe  et  la  Revolution  franfaise.  Vol.  I  of  this 
monumental  work  is  a  brilliant  account  of  the  spirit  of  the  Ancien 
Regime  in  France  and  Europe  at  large. 

Histoire  generale,  edited  by  Lavisse  and  Rambaud,  Vol.  VII.  Ex- 
cellent chapters  with  bibliographies  by  various  French  writers. 

Babeau's  Babeau,  A.,  Le   Village  sous  P ancien  regi?ne,   1878;  La   Ville  sous 

monographs  r ancien  regime,  1880;  La  Province  sous  ranciefz  regime,  2  vols.,  1894; 
La  Vie  rurale  dans  V ancienne  Fra7ice,  1883  ;  Les  Artisans  et  les  Domes- 
tiques  d^autrefois,  1886;  Les  Bourgeois  d^autrefois,  1886;  Les  Voyageurs 
en  France  depuis  la  renaissance  jusqu'  a  la  revolution,  1885;  etc.  Careful 
studies  of  important  phases  of  French  life  before  the  Revolution. 
CoGNEL,  F.,  La  Vie  parisienne  soiis  Louis  XVL,  1882. 
Levasseur,  LListoire  des  classes  ouvrieres  avant  i78g  (2d  ed.,  1900- 
1901),  Vol.  II,  and  excellent  chapter  at  opening  of  his  Histoire  des  classes 
ouvrieres  depuis  i78g.  St.  Leon,  Martin,  Histoire  des  corporations  des 
metiers,  1897.  Kareiew,  Les  Pay  sans  et  la  Question  pay  sanne  en  France 
(French  translation,  1899).  The  older  conditions,  many  of  which  con- 
tinued to  the  Revolution,  are  described  by  See,  H.,  Les  Classes  rurales 
et  le  Regime  domanial  en  France  au  m,oyen  age,  1901.  Avenel,  Vicomte 
DE,  Histoire  economique  de  la  prop7-iete,  des  salaires,  etc.,  1894-1898, 
Vol.  IV. 

The  Cahiers,  prepared  to  be  presented  to  the  Estates  General  (see 
below,  p.  407),  are  unrivaled  in  importance  as  a  source  for  the  conditions 
in  France  in  the  eighteenth  century.  See  Champion,  La  France  d^apres 
les  cahiers  de  178^,  1897. 

Germany  and         For  Germany  :   Biedermann,  Karl,  Deutschlandim  i8ten  JaJirhun- 
Spain  ^/^;Y,  4  vols.,   1 880-1884.    Treats  of  the  intellectual,  social,  and  moral 

life.  The  articles  in  Conrad,  Hajidwoj-terbuch  der  Staatswissenschaftefi, 
often  give  good  short  sketches  of  the  former  economic  conditions  in 
Germany.  For  Spain :  Du  Dezert,  L  '' Espag7ie  de  Vancien  regime, 
2  vols.,  1897. 

(The  works  mentioned  below,  dealing  with  the  various  enlightened 
despots,  will  serve  to  supplement  those  cited  above.) 


Bibliography  40 1 

Canons  and  Decrees  of  the  Council  of  Trent,  translated  by  Water-  The  Church 
WORTH,  1896.  Ranke,  History  of  the  Popes,  book  Lx.  Stoughton,  J., 
Religion  tmder  Queen  Anne  and  the  Georges,  2  vols.,  1878.  Overton, 
The  English  Church  in  the  Eighteenth  Century.  Snell,  Wesley  and 
Methodism,  1900.  Wakeman,  H.  O.,  Introduction  to  the  History  of  the 
Church  of  England,  1898.  Perkins,  France  under  Louis  XV,  Vol.  II, 
contains  a  short  account  of  the  dissolution  of  the  Jesuits.  Crousaz- 
Cretet,  p.,  L  ''Eglise  et  PEtat,  ou  les  Deux  Puissances  au  XVIIP  siecle, 
1893.  Mention,  L.,  Doacme?tts  relatifs  aux  rapports  die  clerge  avec  la 
royaute  de  1682  a  ijSg,  2  vols.,  1893-1903  (in  "Collection  de  textes 
pour  servir  a  I'etude  de  I'histoire").  Contains  many  important  docu- 
ments. Histoire  generale,  Vol.  VII,  chap,  xvii,  on  the  Catholic  Church 
(with  bibliographies). 

Lecky,  Histojy  of  England  iti  the  Eighteenth   Century,  Vol.  I,  chap.   The  English 
iii  (on  Walpole  and  the  cabinet  system) ;  Vol.  II,  chap,  iv  (on  Parlia-  constitution 
ment).    May,   Constitutional  History  of  England  since  the  Accessioti  ^     •  u^^       4^u 
George  the  Third,  especially  chaps,  v-viii.     Morley,   Walpole.    Blau-  century 
VELT,  The  Developnient  of  Cabinet  Govertiment  in  England. 

HoFFDiNG,  Harald,  A  History  of  Mod er 71  Philosophy,  2  vols.,  Mac-  Thinkers 

millan,  1900.    Vol.  I  gives  excellent  short  accounts  of  the  important  of  the  seven- 

teenth  a.nd 
thinkers  from  the  time  of  Machiavelli  to  the  French  Revolution.  ■  u*.gp„*i 

Stephen,  Leslie,  History  of  English    Thought  in  the  Eighteenth  centuries 
Century,  2  vols.,  3d  ed.,   1902.     This  is  an  admirable  account  of  the 
English  Deists.    In  the  second  volume  the  writer  discusses  the  political 
theorists  and  the  economists. 

Dunning,  William  A.,  A  History  of  Political  Theories  from  Licther 
to  Montesquieu,  Macmillan,  1905.    Best  compact  account. 

Janet,  Paul,  Histoire  de  la  science  politiqtie  dans  ses  rapports  avec 
la  morale,  2  vols.,  3d  ed.,  1887.  Vol.  II  deals  with  great  clearness  with 
the  various  European  writers  on  political  science  from  Luther  to  the 
French  Revolution. 

Robertson,  J.  M.,  Short  History  of  Free  Thought,  2  vols.,  2d  ed., 
1906 

Williams,  Henry  S.,  A  History  of  Science,  5  vols.,  1904.    Vol.  II  History  of 

gives  a  very  interesting  popular  account  of  the  progress  of  scientific  natural 

scisncG 
discovery  from  the  thirteenth  century  to  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth. 

Histoire  generale.  Vol.  IV,  chap,  viii ;   Vol.  V,  chap,  ix ;   Vol.  VI, 

chap,  X ;  Vol.  VII,  chap,  xv,  by  P.  Tannery,  furnishes  a  more  scholarly 

sketch    of   scientific    advance    in    Europe    from    1500   to    the    French 

Revolution. 


402  Readings  in  Modern  European  History 

The  French  RocQUAIN,  The  Revolutionary  Spirit  before  the  Revolution,  1894.    A 

Philosophers    condensation,  omitting  the  valuable  notes  of  the  original  French  edition. 

A  suggestive  account  of  the  various  disturbances  preceding  the  disorders 

of  the  Revolution  itself.    Aubertin,  L'' Esprit  publique  au  iSieme siecle, 

1872. 

MoRLEY,  John,  Voltaire,  a  brilliant  essay ;  Rousseau,  2  vols. ;  Diderot 
and  the  Encyclopcedists,  2  vols. ;  Critical  Miscellanies,  3  vols.,  containing 
essays  on  Turgot  and  other  important  persons  of  the  period.  Mr.  Mor- 
ley's  writings  are  noteworthy  not  only  for  their  scholarship  and  distin- 
guished style  but  also  for  the  fundamental  sympathy  between  his  views 
and  many  of  those  of  the  eighteenth-century  philosophers.  See  also 
Collins,  J.  C,  Voltaire  in  England,  1886. 

SoREL,  Montesquieu.  A  useful  little  biography.  HiGGS,  H.,  The 
Physiocrats,  1897.  Say,  Lieon,  Turgot.  Very  valuable  review  of  Tur- 
got's  work.    Ingram,  J.  K.,  History  of  Political  Econo77iy,  1907. 

Sources  in  Voltaire's  writings   (e.g.   The  Philosophical  Dictioftary),  MoNTES- 

English  QuiEu's  Spirit  of  Lazvs  (in  the  Bohn  Library),  Rousseau's  Social  Con- 

tract and  E?fiile  are  readily  procured  in  English. 

Stephens,  W.  W.,  Life  and  Writings  of  Turgot.  Contains  extracts 
from  the  preambles  to  Turgot's  decrees. 

The  The  works  relating  to  Frederick  the  Great  have  been  mentioned 

Enlightened     above  (p.  395).     Rambaud,  History  of  Russia,  gives  a  short  account  of 
espo  s  Catherine's  reforms,  which  should  be  supplemented  by  Bruckner, 

Katharina  die  Zzveite.  CoXE,  House  of  Austria,  Vol.  Ill,  contains  an 
excellent  account  of  Joseph  II.  See  also  Ritter,  K.,  Kaiser  foseph  II 
und  seine  kirchlichen  Reformen,  1869.  For  Charles  III  of  Spain, 
Addison,  Charles  III  of  Spain  (the  Stanhope  Essay  for  1900);  also 
Hume,  Spaiti,  its  Greatness  and  Decay.  Above  all,  Rousseau,  Regne 
de  Charles  III,  2  vols.,  1907. 

France  under  For  the  reign  of  Louis  XVI  and  the  events  leading  up  to  the  French 
Louis  XVI  Revolution  :  The  Cambridge  Modern  History,  Vol.  VIII,  chaps,  i-v  ;  see 
also  MacLehose,  Last  Days  of  the  French  Monarchy  ;  and  Lowell,  Eve 
of  the  French  Revolution.  The  more  satisfactory  works  are  naturally  in 
French.  Oomk\.,  Les  Causes  financieres  de  la  revolution  frangaise,  2  vols. 
In  spite  of  the  title  of  this  work,  it  is  really  the  best  general  account 
of  the  antecedents  of  the  Revolution ;  clear,  fair-minded,  and  accurate. 
JoBEZ,  La  France  sous  Louis  XVI,  3  vols.,  1885.  An  excellent  general 
history  of  events  of  the  reign.  Histoire  de  France,  edited  by  Lavisse  : 
Vol.  VIII,  Part  II  {Louis  XV)  by  Carre  ;   and  Vol.  IX  {Louis  XVI, 


Bibliography  403 

1 774-1 789)  by  Carre.    These  volumes  are  annoimced.   Also,  by  same 
wrker,  La  France  sons  Louis  XV,  1 89 1. 

Mercy-Argenteau,  Correspondance  secrete  avec  Vimperatrice  Marie- 
Therese,  avec  les  lettres  de  Marie- Therese  et  de  Marie- Antoinette,  3  vols., 
1875  ;  and  Correspondance  secrete  avec  Petnperetir  Joseph  LI  et  le  pritice 
de  Kaunitz,  2  vols.,  1 889-1 891.  An  extraordinary  collection  of  informa- 
tion, which  the  sagacious  Comte  de  Mercy  transmitted  to  Vienna  from 
1766  to  1790. 


CHAPTERS   XII-XIII 
The  French  Revolution 
Mathews,   The  French  Revolution,  perhaps  the  best  general  short  General 


account.  The  Cambridge  Moder)i  History,  Vol.  VIII.  Deals  not  only  with 
the  general  movement  but  contains  admirable  chapters  on  special  phases 
of  the  reform.  Fyffe,  History  of  Modern  Europe.  Begins  with  the  open- 
ing of  the  war  in  1792  ;  clear  and  concise. 

Stephens,  H.  Morse,  A  History  of  the  French  Revolution,  2  vols., 
1886-1891  (the  third  volume,  which  should  bring  down  the  story  to  the 
close  of  the  Reign  of  Terror,  has  unfortunately  never  appeared).  This 
is  by  far  the  best  account  to  be  had  in  English,  perhaps  in  any  language. 
It  is  free  from  both  partisanship  and  sentimentality,  and  is  based  on  the 
results  of  modem  French  scholarship.  Its  inaccuracies  in  detail  do  not 
impair  its  essential  value.  The  same  author  in  his  Europe,  iy8g-i8i^, 
1893,  furnishes  a  good  summary  of  the  political  history  of  the  revolu- 
tionary period. 

Taine,  The  French  Revohttion  (from  the  French),  3  vols.  Covers 
the  period  1789-1794.  A  brilliant  arraignment  of  many  of  the  leaders 
of  the  Revolution,  which  the  author  treats  in  an  unsympathetic  spirit. 
His  style,  insight,  and  research,  however,  serve  to  give  his  w^ork  both 
marked  originality  and  value  in  spite  of  its  many  errors  and  faults. 

Carlyle,  The  French  Revolution,  originally  published  in  1837  ;  new 
edition  with  notes  by  Fletcher  and  another  edition  edited  by  Rose.  This 
famous  bit  of  literature  can  scarcely  be  termed  a  history  ;  it  is  a  bril- 
liant and  erratic  commentary  on  the  men  and  ideas  of  the  times,  full  of 
profound  observation,  not  unmixed  with  highly  colored  trivialities  and 
inconsequential  reflections.  Profitable  and  amusing  for  one  familiar  with 
the  actual  course  of  events. 

Lecky,  England  in  the  Eighteenth  Century ;  chaps,  xviii-xx  on  the 
French  Revolution.  These  have  been  published  in  a  separate  volume 
(Appleton). 


treatments 
in  English 


404  Readings  in  Modern  Eiiropean  History 

Special  Sloane,  The  French  Revolution  and  Religions  Reform.    An  account 

phases  q{  ^^g  ecclesiastical  legislation  and  its  influence  on  affairs  in  France 

from  17S9  to  1804  {1901). 

Mallet,  B.,  Mallet  du  Pan  and  the  French  Revolution^  1902.  A  sym- 
pathetic account  of  a  well-known  journalist. 

Belloc,  Danton,  and  by  the  same  writer,  Robespierre.  Two  read- 
able biographies. 

MoRLEY,  Critical  Miscellanies.  Some  of  these  essays  are  concerned 
with  the  revolutionary  leaders  and  thinkers. 

Mahan,  Influence  of  the  Sea  Power  upoti  the  French  Revolutio7t  and 
Empire,  2  vols.  The  author  aims  to  explain  the  successes  of  Great 
Britain  by  her  control  of  the  seas. 

The  sources  Very  few  of  the  sources  are  to  be  had  in  English.  The  following  may 
in  English     be  noted. 

The  Amiual  Register  for  the  period  contains  some  documents. 

Anderson,  Cottstitntions  atid  Other  Select  Docnmefits  illustrative  of 
the  History  of  France,  lySg-igoi.   Gives  important  state  papers. 

Young,  Arthur,  Travels  (see  above,  p.  400).  For  the  opening  of  the 
Estates  General. 

Morris,  Gouverneur,  Diary  a  fid  Letters,  2  vols.,  1888.  Observations 
of  an  American. 

The  Correspondence  of  William  Augustus  Miles  on  the  French  Revo- 
lution, lySg-iSij,  2  vols.,  1890. 

'Pasq}jI'ER,  ffistojy  of  my  Time,  Memoirs,  1893-1894,  Vol.  I.  Marked 
by  a  rather  keen  insight  into  the  significance  of  contemporary  events. 

RiGBY,  E.,  Letters  from  France  in  lySg,  1880. 

Mallet  du  Pan,  I\Iemoirs  atid  Correspojidence,  ed.  Sayous,  2  vols., 
1852. 

Fersen,  Diary  and  Correspondence  relating  to  the  Court  of  France, 
1892. 

Most  of  the  memoirs  mentioned  below  (p.  409),  relating  mainly  to  the 
Napoleonic  period,  have  something  to  say  of  the  Revolution. 


Burke  and 

Thomas 

Paine 


Some  notion  of  the  attitude  of  certain  conservative  Englishmen 
toward  the  Revolution  may  be  found  in  Burke's  famous  Reflections  on 
the  French  Revolution,  —  a  wild  and  indiscriminate  attack  upon  the 
whole  movement.  It  was  answered  by  Thomas  Paine  in  his  celebrated 
tract.  The  Rights  of  Man,  a  defense  of  the  cause  of  the  people. 

The  American  Historical  Review,  Vol.  XI,  pp.  529  sqq.,  contains  an 
article  by  J.  H.  Robinson  on  "  Recent  Tendencies  in  the  Study  of  the 
French  Revolution,"  with  references  to  the  newer  books. 


Bib  liography  40  5 

AULARD,  UHistoire  politiqtie  de  la  7-evolution  fra7i^aise,  iySg-/So4,    Material  for 
190 1.     Recent,  and  by  one  who  has  devoted  years  to  a  sympathetic  advanced 
study  of  the  revolutionary  movement.  study 

SOREL,  Albert,  L'' Europe  et  la  Revolution  fraii^aise,  8  vols,  (coming  Sorel's  great 
down  to  1815),  1885-1904,  Vols.  II-IV.    This  extraordinary  work  super-  "^^^^r^ 
sedes  all  others  on  the  subject.    While  it  is  a  history  of  the  effects  of 
the  Revolution  throughout  Europe,  it  contains  excellent  chapters  on 
the  course  of  events  in  Paris  and  France.    The  later  volumes  cover  the 
Napoleonic  period. 

Jaures,  Histoire  socialiste,  lySg-igoo.  Vols.  I-IV  by  Jaures  on 
Constittcante,  Legislative  et  Conventioji  jusquau  g  Thermidor  ;  and  Vol.  V 
by  Deville,  Du  g  Thej-mido?-  au  18  Brumaire. 

Dictionnaire  historique  et  biographique  de  la  revolution  et  de  r empire^ 
i'/8g-i8i^,  2  vols.,  1899.    Useful  work  of  reference. 

Cherest,  La  Chute  de  Pancien  regime,  3  vols.,  1 884-1 886  (uncom-  Special  works 
pleted).    A  very  detailed  study  of  the  years  1 786-1 789. 

Champion,  La  France  d^apres  les  cahiers  de  lySg.    Admirable. 

Chassin,  Le  Genie  de  la  revolution,  2  vols.,  1 863-1 865.  A  study  of 
the  cahiers. 

Stern,  Das  Leben  Mirabeaus,  2  vols.,  1889. 

Gomel,  LListoire  jinanciere  de  V Assemblee  constituante,  2  vols.,  1896- 

1897.  Excellent,    See  also  for  this  and  the  later  period,  Stourm,  Les 
Finances  de  Pancien  regime  et  de  la  revolution,  2  vols.,  1885. 

Sagnac,  La  Legislation  civile  de  la  revolution  fran^aise,  lySg-iSo^, 

1898.  Very  important. 

SciOUT,  Histoire  de  la  cojistitution  civile  du  clerge,  lygo-iSoi,  4  vols., 
1872-1881. 

Champion,  La  separatioti  de  Peglise  et  de  Petal  en  ijg4.  A  remark- 
able little  volume. 

Aulard,  La  Revolution  et  les  Congregations,  1903.  Gives  documents 
in  convenient  form. 

Campardan,  Le  Tribunal  revolution7iaire  de  Paris,  2  vols.,  1886. 

RoBiNET,  Le  ALouve?nent  religieux  pendant  la  revolution,  ijSg-iSor, 
1896. 

Mortimer-Terwaux,  Llistoire  de  la  Terreur,  8  vols.,  1S62  (uncom- 
pleted).   Contains  many  interesting  documents. 

Wallon,  La  Terreur,  2  vols.,  1881.  This  author  has  also  issued 
two  other  important  and  elaborate  contributions  to  the  history  of  the 
Reign  of  Terror  :  LListoire  du  tribunal  revolutionnaire  de  Paris,  and  Les 
Representants  du  peuple  en  mission. 


406  Readings  iti  Modern  European  History 

Vatel,  Vergniaud,  2  vols.,  1873;  ^'^^  Charlotte  Cor  day  et  les  Giron- 
dins :  pieces  classics  et  annotees,  3  vols.,  1864-1872. 

BiRE,  La  Legende  des  girondins.    Refutes  some  common  errors. 

Hericault,  La  Revolution  dc  Thermidor,  1876. 

Chuquet,  Les  Guerrcs  de  la  revolution,  1 886-1 896,  11  vols,  (coming 
down  only  to  September,  1793). 

VCEuvre  sociale  de  la  revolution  franfaise.  A  series  of  excellent 
essays  by  Faguet  and  others. 

Biographies         Of  the  biographies,  some  of  the  best  are  : 

of  the  revo-  Claretie,  J.,  Camille  Desmoulins,  Lucille  Des7noulins :   Etude  siir 

,     ,  les  dantonistes,  1875.    Charming.    To  be  had  in  an  English  translation. 

Chevremont,  Marat,  2  vols.,  1880.    Dauban,  Etude  sicr  Madame 

Roland  et  son  temps,  2  vols.,   1864.    Ham  el,  Histoire  de  Robespierre, 

3  vols.    Excessively  laudatory.    Mallet,  Mallet  dii  Pan  ajtd  the  French 

Revolution,  1902.    Robinet,  Dantoti,  1889. 

AULARD,  Les  Orateurs  de  P Assemblee  constituante,  1882,  and  Les 
Orateurs  de  la  Legislative  et  de  la  Convention. 

La  Revohitioji  franfaise.  A  periodical  edited  by  Aulard,  1881  sqq., 
and  dedicated  to  a  study  of  the  Revolution. 

The  sources  The  advanced  student  should  be  on  his  guard  against  losing  himself 
in  the  bewildering  number  of  secondary  works  on  the  Revolution,  and 
should  early  acquaint  himself  with  the  scope  and  character  of  the  chief 
collections  of  sources,  of  which  the  most  important  are  : 

BucHEZ  et  Roux,  Llistoire  parlementaire  de  la  revolution  franfaise, 
40  vols.,  1834-1838.  This  contains  extracts  from  the  debates  in  the 
Assembly,  with  the  text  of  some  of  the  important  decrees.  It  gives 
quotations  from  the  newspapers  and  from  the  speeches  in  the  Jacobin 
and  other  political  clubs,  etc.  Notwithstanding  very  defective  tables  of 
contents,  this  has  been  the  mainstay  of  many  writers,  and  is  still  very 
valuable,  by  reason  of  its  comprehensiveness  and  cheapness  ;  the  forty 
volumes  are  procurable  in  Paris  for  from  fifteen  to  twenty  dollars. 

The  news-  Rei77ipression  de  Vaticien  Moniteur  (several  editions),  32  vols.    This 

papers  is  a  reprint  of  one  of  the  most  important  newspapers  of  the  revolution- 

ary period.     It   can   be  bought   for  about   twenty  dollars.     Copies   of 
other  important  newspapers  may  be  found  in  our  best  libraries. 

Archives  parlemcjitaires  de  lySy-iSbo,  first  series,  1 787-1 799,  of 
which  some  66  volumes  have  appeared,  reaching  the  middle  of  the  year 
1793.  This  is  an  official  but  not  very  critical  collection  of  the  debates 
in  the  successive  French  legislative  bodies,  and  occasionally  includes 


Bibliography  40  7 

other  useful  material.    Vol.   I   contains  an   excellent  account  of  the 
events  preceding  the  opening  of  the  Estates  General. 

Vols.  II-VI  of  the  Archives  parletnentaires  contain  the  most  com-  Collections 
plete  collection  as  yet  in  existence  of  the  cahiers ;  but  a  commission,  o^  *^^ 
of  which  Jaures  is  chairman,  was  established  in  1903  to  publish  the  ^""^^^ 
sources  for  the  economic  history  of  the  French  Revolution.    This  is 
issuing  as  complete  an  edition  as  is  feasible  of  the  local  cahiers,  several 
volumes  of  which  have  already  appeared. 

Much  attention  has  been  given  in  the  past  twenty  years  to  the  pub-  Great  collec- 
lication  of  documents,  especially  in  Paris.    The  following  collections  *^°"^  ^^ 
are  important  :  Brette,  Recueil  des  documents  relatifs  a  la  convocation 
des  etats  generaux,  2  vols.,  1894-1896;  AuLARD,  La  Societe  des  jacobins, 
6  vols.,  1 889- 1 897  ;  Recueil  des  actes  du    Coniite  de  salut  publique,  16 
vols.,  1 889-1 904. 

MiRABEAU,  Correspondance  avec  le  comte  de  la  March,  3  vols.,  1851. 
Very  important.  Stephens,  H.  Morse,  The  Principal  Speeches  of  the 
Statesmen  and  Orators  of  the  French  Revolution,  ijSg-iyg^,  2  vols., 
Clarendon  Press.    Very  useful. 

Legg,  Select  Doctttnents  Illustrative  of  the  History  of  the  French  Rev- 
olution, The  Constituent  Assembly,  2  vols..  Clarendon  Press,  1905.  An 
admirable  "  source  book."  The  comments  are  in  English  ;  the  extracts 
are  reproduced  in  the  original  French. 

Of  the   many  memoirs,  perhaps  the  most  important  are  those  of  Memoirs 
Bailly,  Ferrieres,    Mallet   du    Pan,  Malouet,  the   Comte  de 
Fersen,  etc.i 

CHAPTERS   XIV-XVI 

The  Napoleonic  Period  and  the  Reconstruction  of 
Europe  at  the  Congress  of  Vienna 

Johnston,  Napoleon.  A  most  excellent  short  account.  The  Cambridge  General 
Modern  History,  end  of  Vol.  VIII   and  Vol.   IX.    Fyffe,  History  of  treatments 
Modern  Europe,  Vol.  I.  ^"  English 

Fournier,  August,  N'apoleon  the  First,  A  Biography,  1903  ;  English 
translation  from  the  German,  edited  by  Professor  E.  G.  Bourne.  The 
best  treatment  in  one  volume  ;  scholarly,  well  written,  gives  much  atten- 
tion to  the  general  European  situation,  and  is  supplied  with  an  extensive 
and  admirable  bibliography. 

1  See  bibliographies  in  The  Cambridge  Modern  History,  Vol.  VIII,  and  in  the 
Histoire  generate,  Vol.  VIII. 


408  Readings  in  Modern  Enropean  History 

Rose,  J.  H.,  The  Life  of  A'apoleon  /,  2  vols.,  1902  (second  cheaper 
edition  in  one  volume).  A  careful,  up-to-date  account,  mainly  political ; 
fuller  than  Fournier's  and  perhaps  more  interesting. 

Sloane,  William  M.,  Life  of  Napoleon  Bonaparte,  4  vols.,  4to, 
magnificently  illustrated.  A  new  and  cheaper  library  edition  is  to  be 
issued.  One  of  the  great  standard  biographies,  based  upon  a  long  and 
careful  study  of  the  sources.  The  author  confines  himself  mainly  to 
the  personal  history  of  Napoleon,  giving  much  attention  to  his  early 
years,  and  makes  no  attempt  to  write  the  history  of  Europe  during  the 
Napoleonic  period. 

Lanfrey,  Pierre,  IListory  of  Napoleon,  4  vols.  Translated  from 
the  French.  This  work  was  interrupted  by  the  author's  death,  and 
reaches  only  to  the  close  of  181 1.  While  the  writer  makes  constant 
use  of  the  best  of  sources.  Napoleon's  own  letters,  his  attitude  is  unfair, 
and  the  motives  ascribed  for  Napoleon's  policy  are  always  the  lowest. 
The  work  forms  an  excellent  antidote  to  that  of  Thiers  (see  below). 

Thiers,  History  of  the  Consulate  and  Empire.  Several  editions  of 
the  English  translation  are  available.  Thiers  shows  an  unmistakable 
tendency,  especially  in  the  earlier  half  of  his  work,  unduly  to  glorify  the 
Napoleonic  regime.  The  sources  relied  upon  are,  moreover,  very  rarely 
cited.  The  work  is,  nevertheless,  important  and  is  probably  the  most 
interesting  history  in  twenty  volumes  ever  written. 

Taine,  The  Freiich  Revolution,  Vol.  Ill  (on  the  Directory).  By  the 
same  writer,  The  Modern  Regime,  2  vols.,  1894;  especially  Vol.  I,  Book  I, 
in  which  the  author  gives  in  a  short  space  the  most  brilliant,  fascinat- 
ing, and  suggestive  analysis  of  Napoleon's  genius  ever  written.  The 
remainder  of  the  work  is  a  critical  estimate  of  the  influence  of  the  insti- 
tutions established  by  Napoleon  upon  the  later  history  of  France. 

Seeley,  Life  and  Times  of  Stein,  or  Germany  and  Prussia  in  the 
Napoleonic  Age,  3  vols.,  1878. 

Mahan,  Lnfluefice  of  the  Sea  Power  tipon  the  French  Revolution  and 
Empire,  2  vols. 

Fisher,  H.  A.  L.,  Studies  in  Napoleo7iic  Statestna7iship,  Ger7nany,  1903. 

Dorman,  a  History  of  the  British  Empire  in  the  Alneteenth  Century, 
Vol.  I  (1793-1805),  1902. 

Oman,  History  of  the  Peninsular  War,  Vols.  I-II,  1903. 

BiGELOW,  P.,  History  of  the  German  Struggle  for  Liberty. 

Some  sources         BiNGHAM,  A  Selection  from  the  Letters  a?td  Despatches  of  the  First 
Napoleon,  3  vols.,  1884. 

Anderson,  Constitutions  and  Doctnnents  illustrative  of  the  Llistory  of 
France,  ij8g-igoi.    Contains  translations  of  many  important  documents. 


available  in 
English 


Bibliography  409 

New  Letters  of  XapcIeo7i  /edited  by  Lecestre  (Appleton)  (omitted 
from  the  great  collection  of  his  correspondence). 

The  Memoirs  of  Napoleon  dictated  on  the  island  of  St.  Helena  are 
by  no  means  wholly  reliable,  but  are,  nevertheless,  very  interesting  and 
important.  Among  the  memoirs  of  his  companions  on  St.  Helena  to  be 
had  in  English  are  Las  Cases,  The  Journal  of  St.  Helena  (see  above, 
pp.  Tftdsqq.)  ;  MoNTHOLON,  History  of  the  Captivity  of  Napoleon^  1846; 
A  Diary  of  St.  Helena  (containing  conversations  of  Napoleon  with  Sir 
Malcolm),  1899;  Qo\^ViGK\5T),  Journal,  Chicago,  1903. 

A  considerable  number  of  the  innumerable  memoirs  relating  to  the  Memoirr 
Napoleonic  period  have  been  translated.  Among  these  the  most  con- 
spicuous are  those  by  Madame  de  Remusat,  relating  to  the  early  years 
of  the  empire  (excellent) ;  Bourrienne,  very  well  known  and  especially 
valuable  for  Napoleon's  earlier  life ;  MiOT  de  Melito,  one  of  King 
Joseph's  companions  (excellent) ;  Pasquier,  Segur,  Talleyrand, 
5  vols. ;  Meneval,  3  vols.  ;  Marbot,  2  vols.,  etc.  A^arrative  of  Captain 
Coigfiet,  translated  by  Mrs.  Carey.  A  striking  account  of  the  life  of  a 
simple-minded  soldier. 


study 


Lavisse  and  Rambaud,  Histoire generale,  Vol.  IX.    Excellent.  Materialfor 

SciOUT,  Le  Directoire,  2  vols.,  1895.  advanced 

SoRYA.,  L^ Europe  et la  Revolution  fran^aise,  Vols.  V-VIII,  1795-1815 
(see  above,  p.  405). 

Sybel,  Geschichte  der  Revolutionszeit,  Vols.  IV-V  (on  the  Directory). 

Chuquet,  La  Jeunesse  de  Napoleon,  3  vols. 

Lefebvre,  Histoire  des  cabinets  de  PEjirope,  2d  ed.,  5  vols.,  1 866-1 869. 
Perhaps  the  best  diplomatic  history. 

Haussonville,  L^Eglise  romaine  et  le  Pre7nier  Etnpire,  5  vols. 

Vandal,  Napoleon  et  Alexandre,  3  vols.,  1891  sqq. 

Welschinger,  La  Censure  sous  le  premier  empire,  1882. 

Hausser,  Deutsche  Geschichte,  4  vols.  A  readable  and  scholarly 
treatment  of  the  period  between  the  death  of  Frederick  the  Great  and 
the  close  of  the  Napoleonic  period.  More  recent  accounts  may  be  found 
in  Denis,  E.,  L'Allemagjte,  ijSg-iSio,  1896:  H?zigel,  Deutsche  Ge- 
schichte; and  Zwiedineck-Sudenhorst,  Deutsfhe  Geschichte,  Vol.  I, 
1806-1815. 

Baumgarten,  Geschichte  Spaniens,  Vol.  I.> 

The  various  monographs  nnci  special  hiscories  of  this  period  are 
enumerated  in  Fournier,  Napoleon,  pp.  745-788.  See  also  Kircheisen, 
Bibliographie  Napoleons,  1903;  LuMBROso  also  has  an  elaborate  bibli- 
ography of  Napoleonic  literature  In  course  of  publication,  1894  j^^. 


410  Readi7igs  in  Modern  Europea^i  History 

Sources  Chief  of  all  the  sources  is  Napoleon's  correspondence  in  32  volumes. 

While  some  important  letters  have  been  suppressed  (see  La  Grande 
Encyclopedie,  Vol,  XXIV,  p.  792),  this  vast  collection  throws  light 
upon  almost  every  act  of  Napoleon's  public  life.  It  may  be  had  for 
some  twenty  dollars,  and  should  be  in  every  good  historical  library. 

Napoleon,  Mhnoh-es,  8  vols.,  1823.  (New  edition  in  the  Cor7-espon- 
dance.  Vols.  XXIX-XXXII.)  Dictated  by  Napoleon  to  his  companions 
on  the  island  of  St.  Helena,  and  naturally  giving  a  more  favorable  idea 
of  his  policy  than  is  derived  from  the  correspondence. 

Besides  the  various  memoirs  mentioned  above,  we  have  those  of 
Napoleon's  brothers,  Lucien,  Joseph,  and  Louis,  and  of  his  ministers 
and  generals,  Marmont,  Rapp,  Davout,  etc.  To  these  may  be  added 
MoLLiEN,  Souvenirs  d''un  ministre  du  Tresor,  new  edition  by  Gomel, 
1898  ;  Thibaudeau,  Menioires  stir  le  consulat ;  Veron,  Mhnoires  d^un 
bourgeois  de  Paris  ;  Chaptal,  Mes  Souvenirs  sur  N'apoleon,  1893. 

Settlement  at  The  Cai7ibridge  Modern  Histo7y,  Vol.  IX,  chaps,  xix  and  xxi.  Histoire 
the  Congress   generale.  Vol.  X,  chaps,  i-ii.   Both  of  these  give  excellent  bibliographies. 

Hertslet,  Map  of  Europe  by  Treaty,  Vol.  I  (for  documents). 

SoREL,  L'' Europe  et  la  Revohition  fran^aise,  Vol.  VIII. 

Correspondattce  itiedite  de  Talleyrand  et  du  roi  Louis  XVIII pendan^ 
le  congres  de  Vientte^  ed.  PoLLAiR.    Also  in  English  translation. 

Debidour,  Histoire  diplo7natique  de  V Europe,  1814-18^1,  Vol.  I. 


DATE  DUE 

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